Lost Trail 5K - A Race Report

Remember that time I said I'd tell you all about Gomi's adventure at my trail race over the weekend? And remember all those other times I said I'd talk about something later and then totally didn't? This is so not like any of those times, because here's the post! It's like I'm on my game or something...

On Saturday I was scheduled to run the Lost Trail 5K. Originally, I registered for the half marathon. However, given my almost complete lack of training since my last half marathon, I contacted the organizers and asked to be moved to the 5K. Because I'm only so crazy.

Because I'd contacted the organizers in advance about my race chance request, when I showed up Saturday morning for packet pickup, they had to change me to the correct race. Fortunately, TBF Racing staff are really adept at quick changes, so it took mere moments for me to have the correct bib.

I milled around for a bit and then headed over to the port-a-potties just in time to catch the start of the half marathon:

I milled around some more and then, when I heard the ten minute warning announced, I had SweetPea pin on my bib, gathered my stuff and headed towards the port-a-potties again. I was somewhat concerned by the sudden distinct lack of runners milling about, and then someone saw me and told me the 5K had already started.

That's right.

I missed the start of the race.

On the plus side, it's not like I'm fast enough to have placed, anyway.

On the even more plus side, even though I missed the start, I didn't even come in last!

Uh huh, that's right.

I also checked the results, and, even if I had started on time, I probably would have come in the same place (just a couple minutes before). Personally, I think that's pretty impressive.

More than that, though, it was a good race and I had fun. It was challenging, but not in the "this sucks, I hurt, the fuck was I thinking" way that other races have. I listened to music for awhile, but, when the course transitioned to the single track trails, I stopped listening to music so that I could hear if a cyclist or other runner was coming up behind me.

When I saw the sign that said "Mile 13" (the half marathon course had, obviously, merged with the 5K course at this point), I was kind of excited. Already? I still had so much left in the tank!

I'm really glad I ran this and that I did it as a 5K. I was definitely unprepared for a half marathon, but instead of skipping entirely, I went out and had a good time.

While I was out running, SweetPea took Gomi down to the lake bed. We've had a really dry winter, so there's a lot of lake bed to hike on (check out this ride report for some awesome photos of the area). SweetPea let Gomi run off leash and took her all the way down to the water. Neither of them are big fans of going in, but Gomi had herself a nice drink before they headed back to the car to wait for me.

They started the awards ceremony a few minutes after I was done, and I totally randomly won a raffle prize:

Pretty awesome, right? I haven't tried it out, yet, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity to.

This is my official race photo from James Pratt Photography. Because I missed the race start, he was totally unprepared that I was still on my way to where he was set up, so he was all packed up when I came over the hill. He took off on his bike to get down the course so that he could make sure to get my picture. He was cheering and cracking jokes the whole time. He is probably my favorite local race photographer and, yes, I bought the digital file of this photo.

Last but not least, here's Gomi, who seemed mostly underwhelmed by the whole day. Don't worry, though! She was even less whelmed by her bath the next day!

Sacramento Trail Run Series: 6 Mile Challenge - A Race Report

Fleet Feet & TBF Racing present the Sacramento Trail Run Series: 6 Mile Challenge - A Race Report

Race Start Temperature: 39F
Race End Temperature: 55F
Average winds 3 - 9 MPH

It wasn't foggy or cloudy or rainy or windy. It was sunny and nice with a bit of a breeze. It was, in fact, the perfect weather for a race.

The folks at TBF Racing really do a bang up job putting on events. They are well organized events with great support.

And they're hard.

In all fairness, the only other trail race I've ever done was the Down & Dirty Mud Run, which, in comparison, was like Trail Running Lite. It was (mostly) on trails, but, for the most part, they were wide and fairly flat, with not a lot in the way of large rocks, ruts, roots or sand. In retrospect, the D&D seemed very much like the course was planned for runners who didn't normally do a lot of trail running but were out for the challenge of completing that particular event.

TBF, on the other hand, was founded and is run by people love and train on the trails in our area and are not afraid, apparently, to throw your ass into a pretty challenging course* because, you know, they put "Challenge" in the title and that should probably have been a clue.

The course started through sand - and, no, not wet, packed sand, because that would be too easy - and continued through hills, valleys, single track, over rocks, roots, ruts, creeks and roads. And as if that wasn't enough, before we were finished, they released the mountain bike racers**.

All of the aid stations were well stocked and staffed, even as late as we came through them. Every area with event staff or volunteers was staffed through the entirety of our (long ass) run. I've heard enough stories about slow runners coming upon abandoned aid stations that I truly appreciate TBF's commitment to bringing every racer in.

Official Race Time: 2:01:22 - MonkeyDo & I DLF'd. But we did not DNF***.

The next race in this series is the 8 Mile Challenge, and takes place on February 19th. It's on my race calendar but I haven't registered for it, yet. I'm torn between how nauseous the course map makes me and this weird feeling that it's "just" two more miles. I feel strangely at peace with the thought of DLFing the entire series. And maybe I should just shut my mouth there & not let the debate continue in my head. I can DLF the crap out of this series. But I still have to figure out how to make my brain STFU and let me do it.

Lessons Learned:

1. I don't fuel before or during long runs because of this article (as I've discussed in the past). I'm not sure this is, necessarily, the best tactic for Race Day. When I finally gave in & ate one of the Clif Shots they were handing out at aid stations, I felt immensely better. Ideally, I'd like my body to burn fat instead of carbs for running, but I think that might be something to work towards and not something to count on right now, during a race.

2. It's allergy season. Lung congestion (to the point of coughing & phlegm production) had hit me Thursday and into Friday. I felt much better by Saturday morning, but still had enough congestion that I could tell it was affecting my performance. I have an appointment this morning with my Primary Care Physician to discuss options for taming this congestion. My personal history thoroughly demonstrates that I'm not shaking this congestion without help, and I am not willing to let it compromise my plans.

3. Astigmatism (which is why I wear glasses) + Trail Running = Tripping. I tripped & almost fell a total of four times. At least two of those times were directly related to not clearing a rock I was convinced I'd clear. Hello jacked up depth perception! My depth perception is, really, not that bad, but, apparently, just bad enough to catch the lips of rocks as I tried to clear them. I don't run in my glasses because they're just not the right kind of glasses in shape & size, and they'd actually make things worse. I plan to get some glasses specifically for running, but I'm not sure what would work best, especially when running conditions are frequently light/dark/light/dark/RAINING. This is something on the short term to-do list because I'm sure the price tag on these will be obscene. If anyone has tips, they would be greatly appreciated.

4. Do not wear the pants with the wide bottoms on trail runs. Seriously. At one point the toe of one Vibram'd foot caught the hem of the pants on the other leg & I almost went down. How embarrassing would that have been?



*I legitimately have so little actual experience with trail running that I have no idea if the course was all that hard or if I just suck have no experience. So, you know. Take this part with a grain of salt.

**We were really & truly so slow that they had started the next event before we got finished. It was certainly a unique perspective on the event they were doing.

***DLF = Dead Last Finish; DNF = Did Not Finish; DNS = Did Not Start
DLF>DNF>>DNS

By Numbers

1. Susan B. Anthony 5K Chip time: 53:05.9

2. HOT Pink 5K Chip time: 53:50.9

3. Body Fit Challenge starting statistics: 270 pounds, 45.4% body fat

4. #3 means that, theoretically, I can guesstimate a weight loss goal. Using our good friend "math" and using 20% body fat as a "goal", it's possible to come up with an estimate of how much weight I should lose to get to that point, and what I might weight once I do. Is it true, correct, or what I should be aiming for? I'm not sure. The results I got when I did the math indicated a weight that would still put my BMI at 29, well into the "overweight" category and almost to obese. How does THAT make sense?

5. I do plan on posting updates to my statistics as the 8 week Body Fit Challenge goes on. And, yes, ok, I'm kind of scared, but I'm also totally fucking excited about the transformation that's about to occur!

HOT Pink 5K - A Post in Pictures

Bib

Team Henry - Before

After

Susan B. Anthony - The Race Report

I'm not sure what all to tell you about. It is my first race report, after all.

The first thing I'll say is that I walked way more than I had intended to walk. This is not entirely surprising given the amount of slacking I did in the last couple of weeks. I also really have a hard time getting out of my head and breaking the cycle where I'm bargaining, whining, begging. I mean, really. Running's not that bad, and I wish my brain could just get the fuck over it.

Having said that, here's my stats:

9.94 kilometers in 53:10, at a pace of 5:20 per kilometer.

I have no idea how I made that pace, considering how much walking I did. As for the distance... Funny, right? The race is USATF certified, and my understanding of that is that it means the shortest possible distance you can run (cutting corners, running the inside track, etc) is 5k. So if you aren't doing those things and, if you're like me, you're drifting sides throughout the race, you're going to do, apparently, a significantly longer distance.

Either that or my Nike+ has bumped its head.

If you have clarification, that would be super.

As for the whole event, it was a great time. Buffalo Chips put on an awesome event. The goodie bags were great, the support staff & volunteers were awesome. The best part was hitting the aid station (because, yes, they had one), and seeing someone I work with - not a coworker, but someone who works the same field elsewhere in our department. It was unexpected and a good surprise to see a friendly & familiar face.

I had the best cheering squad, ever.


SweetPea calls me Henry. She's Hank.

Afterwards, SweetPea & I went to breakfast. I had eggs, potatoes, rye toast (I'm currently in love with rye toast) & a short stack of pancakes. Then SweetPea napped while I took care of some errands. Then we had a late lunch, early dinner at Hooters (blackened mahi sandwich, fried pickles & BEER).


Gawd love Blue Moon in sizes called "Big Daddy"

Then we went to play Monster Mini Golf. And hang out with "our new dog":


When we were done, I was starving! What? We stopped for a treat and then home & bed.

Had a hard time sleeping & kept waking up before finally calling it a night & getting up. Today I am so tired and still hungry.

I had been wondering about taking a rest week. I know it's typical to take a rest week after a race, but I'd been thinking that I run 5k pretty frequently, so I didn't see that I'd need to. My legs & body have definitely been telling me a different story, though. I'm definitely taking this week off from running. I'm just doing yoga, and then I might add swimming later in the week. Next week I'll start up again with week six of Podrunner Intervals. Then I can run a better race next time.

I should have more pics to share from the race photographer.

I think that's all I have! It was an excellent first race and I couldn't be more grateful to Buffalo Chips for putting on such a great event!