The hardest 10 miles I have ever ran, but what an experience. I’m not sure what made me think I could hang with these guys. Trail running might not be my thing, in my current shape. I’m just barely getting comfortable with 10 mile runs on flat pavement. One of the main reasons I chose this race was because I could bring my dog, Tyson. Before Tyson joined my family, I dreamed of having a dog to run with. He has been such a great running partner over the years. I think he gets a little jealous when I go running with my wife instead of him too. So this race was a chance for us to have fun on a long run together and try something different. Tyson has way more experience with trail running than I do. At the house in Belton, he had plenty of space and much of the same conditions that we faced today. He got a lot of attention too. Lots of comments on his color and lots of comments on his great behavior. He was much more sure footed than I was too. There were several times where the only reason I was standing, was because I was being held up by Tyson. I definitely wouldn’t have finished if he wasn’t there pushing me.
I was happy with my results. Because I had no idea what to expect, I went in with a 4 hour goal. There was a point where I thought I might hit 3 hours, then came the muddy hills. I totally made mistakes regarding hydration. I skipped the first two stations and didn’t drink any of my water either. At mile 7, I started to cramp really bad. By that time I was already walking all the uphills. After I started cramping, I was forced to walk the rest of the race. At the third aid station, at 7.5 miles, I seriously thought about quitting. I was cramping, I was actually getting light headed a little. The volunteers however, were just too awesome to let me quit. I think I spent over 15 minutes at that aid station. I had soda, PB&J, bananas, orange slices and lots of water. I was just trying to put fuel back in the tank and stop the cramping. This was Tyson’s first drink too, he filled up on water and declined any dog treats. After my head cleared and the caffeine kicked in, we were off. Walking. I just wanted to get to the finish line, get my medal, and have some of the delicious soup that I had heard so much about. From that aid station, I was in a different mind set. I caught up to another walker and we finished the race together.
I was lapped by about 20 of the people doing the 20/30 mile races, which is what I expected. When the race was done, you couldn’t tell that my shoes were white. My tights were pretty muddy, but not nearly as muddy as the muddiest I saw. I needed to hang on to several trees and I had to use my hands to climb a few of the uphills too. I’ve got one blister that is not the biggest, but is definitely the ugliest I have ever had. I used muscles that I haven’t used in 17 years and I will be sore for the foreseeable future.
The Trail Nerds are an awesome group, the volunteers were amazing from start to finish. If I do another trail run, it will definitely be with this organization. As a first timer, I honestly can’t think of anything that would have made my experience better. There were smiling faces everywhere, I met so many great people. Ben, Cameron, Anna, Beth, Bruce to name a few. People came from all over the country for this race, California, New York and an entire team from Eden Prairie MN (TC Running I think). The entire group, runners, friends, volunteers really made the race experience great.
With my first race of 2010 out of the way, I think I can get back on my real training schedule from Ken Welsh (Midwest Triathlon Coaching). The first week I didn’t follow as well as I should have because of this race and partially because of work. Even though I’m training for Lawrence half-ironman triathlon (70.3) in June, my main race is still Branson 70.3 in September, I think this run definitely is helping me get closer to my goals.
