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| Jogging stroller for the pupcakes |
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| Living out of a suitcase = lots of lists |
I love my new work situation. I get to travel, work with teachers, and give professional development sessions on an awesome data and assessment solution tool. But.... it turns out the week prior to the race I was traveling to 3 different trainings. I was in North Dakota the Monday before the race. Central Illinois the Wednesday and then north western Illinois on the Friday. These all included an overnight stay and all day in heels! Needless to say I was worried about the race.
I knew I wanted to go out and run hard and have fun.... didn't know what the outcome would be, especially with the week leading up to the race, but I was definitely ready for some quiet time in the woods.
Pre-Race
As soon as I finished up my training sessions in Rocton, IL, I jumped in the car and headed down to East Peoria. I got to the race site in about 2 1/2 hours. The packet pickup was at the start/finish line area at Famdale Resevior. The volunteers were wonderful and packet pickup was a breeze. I took a little bit of time to explore part of the course because I had never been in the area before. Being at the park made me feel excited for the next day ahead.Then I left to grab dinner and check into the hotel (which is becomming quite routine these days). I believe in good signs and I saw a sign that reminded me of my IRUN4 buddy Lucy. I knew it was going to be a good race.
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| Pre race start/finish line area |
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| Cozy fire pit |
Loop 1
The first loop runners stayed pretty clumped together. The first loop I wanted to just feel out the course. I had studied the course description and map but there wasn't an elevation profile. The pack was running pretty steadily on the single track, tackling the hills pretty easily. There were only a handful of pretty steep climbs that required hiking. Cougar hill was the worst and I'm not going to lie, I had to use my hands to get up! The good thing about this hill was that the 1/2 way aid station was at the top of the hill so it was a great motivator to get up the thing! The course had a good mix of terrain: single track, gravel, prairie grass, roots, and even a couple creek crossings to get your feet wet. It also a lot of sections that were down hill.* I didn't feel like I was running too hard or too conservatively on this loop, I was just trying to see what I was getting into for the day. I would say I was somewhere mid pack. I came into the start/finish line aid station at about 2 hours. I quickly refilled my water bottles and changed into a new shirt. (the morning started off pretty chilly but warmed up quickly on the course)Loop 2
Runners started to spread out loop 2. I would hear other runners talking or come upon someone but I enjoyed the quiet. It allowed me to focus on my running. What I started to notice was that I wasn't afraid of the down hill sections... and this course had a good amount of decline! It felt awesome. In fact, I started to laugh about how much fun I was having running DOWNHILL!!! Since I had already ran the loop once, I started to picture what was coming up by landmarks and that helped to push but the hills felt more daunting and I knew I had slowed down. The main landmarks that stuck out to me on this loop were: the creek, switchback hill, prairie grass section, cougar hill/aid station, rocky downhill, more prairie grass, the road, pines, easy trail, and finish line. I met a couple runners on this loop and chatted for bit to pass the time. I however noticed that I kept seeing 2 ladies running together. I would pass them on the downhill sections and aid stations (they lingered for a bit) and then they would catch me on the climbs. But I kept telling myself, you're fine... run your own race, you still have an entire loop. As soon as I got into the start/finish line area, I knew I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible and try to get a good distance out from the ladies! (loop 2 took about 2:25)
Loop 3
The last loop. This was fun because I could pass a landmark and think "this is the last time I'll cross this little foot bridge, or run through this creek, or climb this stinking "mountain!" (it's amazing how hills turn into mountains in the later miles of races)" And of course on the switchback hill, which zig-zagged up, the ladies caught me and passed. I was discouraged by that but thought there was still race miles left and I could catch them. I was loving the downhills and they were running these more tentatively. I was on a nice downhill section, had the ladies in my sights and ugh.... caught a tree root and just bit it. Fell so hard the ladies stopped, turned around to make sure I was ok. They were so kind to stop and see if I needed help. When I fell, I must have tensed my whole body up because my legs cramped as I was laying in the dirt. I knew I was ok but couldn't get up right away. I assured the ladies that nothing major was wrong and they went on their way. I got up, dusted myself off and continued on my way. I was ticked.... tears were welling up because the cramping wasn't going away. I would run a few steps and the right calf would twinge/cramp. Then I'd continue on for a bit and the quads would scream; I wanted to scream too. Amazingly I got to the half way aid station as the ladies were leaving. I joked to the volunteer that of course I fell because I chose to wear my pretty white socks to a trail event! I thanked him for his time and grabbed a salty boiled potato slice hoping that would help with the cramping legs. I knew at this point I still had about 5 miles to go and had no clue if I could keep with the ladies or how far behind the rest of the runners were. I just knew I had to keep moving. I had the ladies in my sights, it was a downhill section, and something in me panicked. I stayed behind them, when I knew I could pass. I'm not sure if it is because they were so kind when I fell that I felt bad passing, or the fear of them passing me right back. Whatever it was, I didn't make the move. I let them continue on in front. I finished the race 2 minutes behind the ladies and 8th female overall. I was happy with the top ten finish, but disappointed in that I didn't push harder.
Post race:
Lots of cramping, banged up legs and arms from the fall, awesome finishers rock that was mailed to Lucy, new pair of shoes that I won in a raffle!!!, and the drive to run better, race harder, and live up to my full potential.
Take Aways:
-Continue to work on hill training for late in the race climbs-Downhill running was a success in this race. It was the first time I had fun running down hill!
-Salt tabs are important even in shorter distance;probably could of had that and maybe it would have helped with the cramping
-Meeting new people is fun, but having a familiar face at a race can be a motivator (felt lonely at this one)
-Falls happen, work on mentally recovering faster.
*I have always said that I'm a terrible downhill runner. I just feel out of control running downhill and I tend to over-break leading to definite quad fatigue.
* Is it normal or common to be afraid of your full potential? I found myself doubting the great things that I could be. If I'm being completely honest with myself, this is something I do in my non running life too. If you have ever felt this way, how did/do you cope with that. How do you push past your fears and let your full potential come to fruition?
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