Last weekend was a great workout.  It was my 20-mile run in preparation for Little Rock 26.2.  This week, the weather was pleasant, a little bit cooler than it has been.  On Tuesday, I started to debate if I should do the trail race.  Coach Ken gave me a call and told me about another one of his athletes creating an ankle issue from the exact same trails.  My teammates, at work, were seemingly all against me doing it as well.  On Friday, when I got the killer tech-shirt and mug from packet pickup (thanks Sharon), I made up my mind.  I’m doing this!  The shirt is perfect!  I couldn’t NOT wear the shirt, and I didn’t want to be the person wearing the shirt without doing the event.

I didn’t get out of the house as fast as I wanted to, but luckily, traffic was non-existent.  When I stopped at the 7-Eleven to get my 5-hour energy, the lady working recognized me as I walked in and asked me “What flavor today?” Like I come in everyday or something, which I don’t.  It felt good to be recognized, then I felt a little weird.  Anyway, when I got to the event.  The bus was waiting for me, and my buddy Matt, from work, had a spot open right next to him.  Seeing a friendly face that early set things in the right direction.

We got to the race starting spot about 40 minutes before the start of the race.  Since it was about 10*F  (-12* C), we were talking about how to stay warm.  I felt like I was dressed properly.  I had 5 layers on top, tri-shorts under my running tights and 2 pair of socks.  There were about 15 other folks from work, that I recognized, at the start.  I met a few coworkers for the first time too.

From the start the race just got better and better.  All the friendly faces. It was super organized.  There were a few dogs out too.  The vibe was just great.  When they started the race, I went out slow, just like I will in Little Rock.

I ran this race with Tyson the last time, but I thought it was too cold for him today.  I was a little nervous about doing it solo since he actually helped me out so much the last time we raced.  Today, I only used my hands twice.  The first time I pulled on a tree that was hanging over the trail, and it alost came down on the person behind me.  The entire valley heard the tree crack.  The second time, I encountered a large rock and had to put my hands out in front of me in order to not crash into it with my knees.  That was the cause of the minor cut I have on my left hand.  I came out of this race in much better shape than I did in 2010.

It was obvious from the start that I remembered every single foot of this trail.  Trail running is pretty much heads down, especially in these conditions.  I could have told you every spot that Tyson pulled me up.  The spot where Tyson stopped me from landing on my butt.  The spot where Tyson didn’t stop me from hitting my butt was recognized too.  I remembered all the aid stations, and I even used the aid stations properly this time.

When I made it to mile 3 without really any discomfort at all, my confidence was high.  I started looking at my watch to see my pace.  At that point I was still pretty much just going with the flow and stuck behind quite a few people.  I decided that I wanted to catch 1 person every mile.  I still didn’t want to race and get hurt.  I was very focused on staying healthy.  However, it is a race, and I enjoy race day.  So, I started to pass a few people and get out of the bunch that I was in.

At the next aid station, I was still feeling super.  I kept going.  I think there were a few people that I had to pass multiple times just because I was taking my time at the aid stations.  At the aid station at mile 5, my 5-hour energy was frozen almost solid.  I got what I could and a slushy cup of gatorade and went on.  I remember walking the hill after that section last time, so I didn’t let myself do it this time.  The only time I was walking today was when I was in a bunch and on a very technical section.

I noticed that in the first 5 miles everyone was pretty much moving forward.  On the second half, it seemed like the people I passed were much more willing to stand aside when they heard me approach.  I was very surprised when I saw people wearing headphones, but I did only see a handful, well, maybe 10 total.  It just seemed like getting a heads up on slippery sections would be worth leaving the music in the car.  I’m not judging, I’m just saying, the people behind that one girl with music on heard me give a heads up and didn’t fall on their face.

I saw a few wipeouts, heard a few wipeouts, and after the race saw some torn up gear, destroyed shoes, and plenty of mud splatter.  I felt like I was pretty clean.  Actually, I was pretty clean.  My shoes didn’t even have mud on them when I got to the car.  My socks were dirty, and so was the bottom of my tights, but other than that, I was good.

I finished with 1:57:40 officially.  That’s over 1.5 hours faster than the last time.  Quite a significant PR for 10 miles.  117 of 296 overall.  I’m happy anytime I can be in the top half!

I can’t say enough how much I really love the events this group puts on.  As much as I loved the race the last time, it was even better this time.

I hope to do this race again, and maybe next time I will try the 50k.