What do I say or how to even begin? I had plans to go spend a weekend in Denver but life & work commitments got in the way. After a week of rain I knew the trails in DFW were closed so I had a bright idea pop into my head to go run a #TROT race and see a ton of friends. As soon as Trail Racing over Texas posted a video of water covered trails I knew I had to go. Nothing but fun could be had outta mud,water and running a few miles..... The Shootout was a combination of 3 races in 1 day. 5k at 7:30am, 10k at 8:30am followed with a 1/2 marathon for a total of 22.4 miles if I opted to do the entire Shootout. I always want to get my money's worth so of course I did all 3.
5k- 1 3.1 mile loop. After arriving that morning I saw people looking at a "creek" behind the finish line and heard rumor of really deep water but I didn't care. I was running at least 22 miles this weekend so I decided to just have a good time. Old wore out kicks was the shoe of choice. Races like this is why I hoard crappy ones. The race starts and we begin down a road and I'm thinking "what the heck?" I know Rob- the RD- and he's not going to make a course easier and fortunately the road was only about .10 and onto a jeep road which promptly dumped us into about .3 mile of knee deep water. A really nice soaking with 200 people scrambling for position. After that we got on single track for a bit before hitting a submerged bridge that ended with climbing up a mud bank. After that we just had single track trail littered with knee deep mud holes and lotsa slop. Not sticky mud but just a soup. Good times!! This led us to an out and back which had a aid station at the end. And it had water & mud. At this point my legs were black as well as my beautiful #TROT tank top. After the out n back we had a very short lived section that was flat,dry and super fast. All good things must end and it did on a 30ft slope down into a creek. A creek waist deep. I tried walking down the hill and passed 5 ladies cursing as I slid down on my feet only to fall when I hit the water. More good times!! After that we walked,waded n some swam .3 or so through this swamp to our waists in water but it ended fast. Once it ended we were on another single track trail that was dry. Well til we came to the 1st turn and then we had to go back into this time chest deep water. A volunteer was out in the middle directing us and keeping everyone safe. We cleared that to run in knee deep water another .5 or so then down a muddy hill and through 2 creeks. It finally put us out on a flat straight dry jeep road and I ran hard thinking this is it and this 5k is done. LOL Not quite. There was a slight detour at the end dumping us back into the waist deep water once more before scrambling up a wet hill and a 5k was complete!!! The best 5k ever!
10k- like the 5k but we got to do the loop twice! After falling right after the 10k start into a mud pit, I drop my shirt at the 1/2 way mark and decide to take my coach's advice and just go have fun in the mud! Pretty uneventful other then getting to encourage a few 1st time trail runners to battle on through this. I've ran every distance from 5k to 100 miles before this day with the exception of a 10k. It was pretty cool getting my 1st 10k on trails in one of the most memorable races I've ever ran.
1/2 Marathon- This race was 3 loops of much the same as the 5 & 10k but had some beautiful soft single track that was pretty dry added on the end to get us to 13.1 miles. It got hot and humid and by the 2nd 1/2 marathon loop and my 5th time in the swamp, I was looking forward to it. The water rose throughout the day but the safety guys were out there watching out for everyone. My most memorable part of it was a 10yr old passing me on the 1st loop and him telling me how he got to swim through the water. Activities like that keep kids out of trouble and kudos to Mom for tagging along behind that young man. And I must say, all that water kept all the mud from building up on shoes or bodies.
San Felipe was a great race! Sliding down the hill into the swamp with Wayne like we were a coupla young kids on a sled to watching Jeff Ball, Steven Moore, Tracie Ackerhielm among other great Texas trail runners just killing it in spite of the mud and water made this race for me. Running with so many #TROT team members makes me so proud to be a part of this great organization. The elite guys and girls are so welcoming and helpful and the other Ambassadors are such a joy to be around. The TROT volunteers are nothing short of amazing. John,James and the guy in the deep water- you men rock! HOURS in frigid waters just to keep us runners safe. Thank you so much! I can't swim a lick but not once did I feel unsafe. All the other TROT volunteers- you are all the backbone of a great organization. Thanks so much! Rob & Rachel- Damn you never disappoint!! Many race directors would have been doom & gloom but you guys made people excited about running in mud and water and you made it fun! I say it over and over but Trail Racing Over Texas doesn't simply put on a race. Yea we run em but it's an event and I can't wait to run another one of these epic races!! Til next time #RunStrong
Monday, March 14, 2016
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
A-OK 50k
This race is definitely one of my favorites! Rewind to 2014 and I had just ran the Hot Chocolate 5k. A friend- Nikki tells me I can do a 25k at this little trail race in Oklahoma. Ignorance is bliss and so I agreed. Dang it was cold that day. 18 degrees but me and my friend Janet got through it together. My 1st trail race was done and I was hooked on this sport that has become a huge part of who I am today.
2015 I ran the 25k again and it was fun. Watching my friend Andrea win his 1st race ever as he dominated the 50k option was pretty cool! Someday I'll be as fast as that dude. Maybe it's the pasta he eats.........
2016- I wasn't sure this race would fit my schedule or not after my injury last fall but my coach asked if I had a March race I'd like to do that was close. This race is near and dear to me being its what got me into trail running 2 years ago plus the race director is a really sweet lady. 83 and still does ultra marathons. I hope I live that long and if so, I pray that I'll still be doing some races. Race weekend was the same weekend I had planned to spend with my son. He's never been to a trail race before so I thought it was cool to show him a part of my life where I don't see family. We drove up to Atoka,Oklahoma Saturday afternoon to check in and see the course condition. 2015 was a sloppy mess so I had to see what I was up against this year. After checking in we had dinner and went to the hotel & crashed.
Race morning- It was just beautiful! The race starts at 8am and we showed up early so I could get my stuff where I needed it. The 50k is 2 25k loops so I just wanted more nutrition for the 2nd loop. My coaches instructions were to just have a solid training run and don't do anything stupid where I couldn't finish. My training leading up to this has been solid as I rebuild my base and try to find some speed for races later in the year. I just wanted even splits and anything around 7 hours was a win for me. Loop 1- the 1st 3 miles is a series of rocky hills followed by a mile on jeep road then a mile out n back over various terrain before more jeep & gravel road. The loops end with just over a mile back through the hills. My plan was to just run and have fun. Take limited walk breaks on hills and maintain a steady pace hopefully finishing in 3:30. My plan kinda went out the window when I hit the jeep road section and for my old slow butt, I was flying and having fun. Fly as in 9:30 to 10:15 miles. That's like my normal pace training on roads but it felt great so I kept on. I caught a friend at mile 10 or so and I ran with him to nearly the finish. We slowed down to a 12:15 pace and took more walk breaks but it probably saved my legs. I've always employed some walk strategy into my ultra's simply because I'm new to the sport and don't have the years of running that so many do but I'm quickly weaning off that. It's all mental now and once I started walking more, that kinda got in my head but I finished the loop in 2.58. I was way ahead of my scheduled splits so I made myself sit a few minutes before heading back out for the last 15 miles.
Loop 2- My head and legs just really took a crap on me. I'm thinking it was all mental because I could still bomb the downhills but my mind kept trying to tell me to take walk breaks. That's a struggle I've got to get past like now. I could still get in the 13's range pace but not what I wanted at all. The afternoon got really hot and after mile 23 I skipped nutrition and only stopped at the aid stations to refill my water bottle as I used it on my head to keep cool. The last 2 miles was a struggle until I heard my friends yelling at me. Looking at my watch I had a huge PR for the 50k distance so I hustled it on in. 6:49 with my only other 50k time being 8:05 so I was happy.
Takeaways- It was just a good solid training run and I hope my son better understands this sport that I love so much. I had so much more in me and left some laying on the table but going into a 50 miler next month with super tight cutoffs, I know I can hustle and lay down some solid miles to eliminate that fear from my mind. Props to my buddy Pepe- he's been running for years but never won a race until A-OK. He won the 25k. So many other friends had great runs and it was cool seeing everyone out there handing out encouragement to others. I really love #TROT races but if you can't make one and need a small bare bones race in March and live close, I'd suggest driving up to Atoka,Oklahoma and doing this one! Til next time #RunStrong
2015 I ran the 25k again and it was fun. Watching my friend Andrea win his 1st race ever as he dominated the 50k option was pretty cool! Someday I'll be as fast as that dude. Maybe it's the pasta he eats.........
2016- I wasn't sure this race would fit my schedule or not after my injury last fall but my coach asked if I had a March race I'd like to do that was close. This race is near and dear to me being its what got me into trail running 2 years ago plus the race director is a really sweet lady. 83 and still does ultra marathons. I hope I live that long and if so, I pray that I'll still be doing some races. Race weekend was the same weekend I had planned to spend with my son. He's never been to a trail race before so I thought it was cool to show him a part of my life where I don't see family. We drove up to Atoka,Oklahoma Saturday afternoon to check in and see the course condition. 2015 was a sloppy mess so I had to see what I was up against this year. After checking in we had dinner and went to the hotel & crashed.
Race morning- It was just beautiful! The race starts at 8am and we showed up early so I could get my stuff where I needed it. The 50k is 2 25k loops so I just wanted more nutrition for the 2nd loop. My coaches instructions were to just have a solid training run and don't do anything stupid where I couldn't finish. My training leading up to this has been solid as I rebuild my base and try to find some speed for races later in the year. I just wanted even splits and anything around 7 hours was a win for me. Loop 1- the 1st 3 miles is a series of rocky hills followed by a mile on jeep road then a mile out n back over various terrain before more jeep & gravel road. The loops end with just over a mile back through the hills. My plan was to just run and have fun. Take limited walk breaks on hills and maintain a steady pace hopefully finishing in 3:30. My plan kinda went out the window when I hit the jeep road section and for my old slow butt, I was flying and having fun. Fly as in 9:30 to 10:15 miles. That's like my normal pace training on roads but it felt great so I kept on. I caught a friend at mile 10 or so and I ran with him to nearly the finish. We slowed down to a 12:15 pace and took more walk breaks but it probably saved my legs. I've always employed some walk strategy into my ultra's simply because I'm new to the sport and don't have the years of running that so many do but I'm quickly weaning off that. It's all mental now and once I started walking more, that kinda got in my head but I finished the loop in 2.58. I was way ahead of my scheduled splits so I made myself sit a few minutes before heading back out for the last 15 miles.
Loop 2- My head and legs just really took a crap on me. I'm thinking it was all mental because I could still bomb the downhills but my mind kept trying to tell me to take walk breaks. That's a struggle I've got to get past like now. I could still get in the 13's range pace but not what I wanted at all. The afternoon got really hot and after mile 23 I skipped nutrition and only stopped at the aid stations to refill my water bottle as I used it on my head to keep cool. The last 2 miles was a struggle until I heard my friends yelling at me. Looking at my watch I had a huge PR for the 50k distance so I hustled it on in. 6:49 with my only other 50k time being 8:05 so I was happy.
Takeaways- It was just a good solid training run and I hope my son better understands this sport that I love so much. I had so much more in me and left some laying on the table but going into a 50 miler next month with super tight cutoffs, I know I can hustle and lay down some solid miles to eliminate that fear from my mind. Props to my buddy Pepe- he's been running for years but never won a race until A-OK. He won the 25k. So many other friends had great runs and it was cool seeing everyone out there handing out encouragement to others. I really love #TROT races but if you can't make one and need a small bare bones race in March and live close, I'd suggest driving up to Atoka,Oklahoma and doing this one! Til next time #RunStrong
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