race report

Yes. You read it correctly.

I said RACE REPORT.

I actually ran this weekend.

I will actually blog about some running.

It had been one day shy of two weeks since I had run. Oh boy did it feel like it too. Actually it felt like it more this morning than yesterday. My legs were tight when I woke up - most likely from running up and down all the hills from yesterday's race.

Okay. The race report:

It was the last DINO trail run for the year and it was held at Fort Harrison State Park (my "home turf" of sorts). I had not been trail running in three weeks (the last time was Sunday morning of the day when Steph's water broke) and had only run two other time since Lilli was born.

I didn't know for sure if I would run the race or not until that morning. It all hinged on Lilli cooperating with her schedule (i.e. sleeping between feedings). Thankfully she did pretty well and I was able to get ready and go. Steph didn't want to deny my need for running and was happy to let me get out - she knows it makes me happy.

I showed up at the state park and saw a vast sea of cars everywhere - probably the most I had ever seen at a trail race. I was determined to run the 15k even without running for almost two weeks. Probably not the best idea, but I wanted to see if my legs could handle it.

I met up with Brooke just before the race started and ran with her for the first half. We were keeping a pace right around 8:30/mile even with some pretty challenging hills. But after the turn around point, I felt I was losing steam. I was feeling it and wondered if the 5k wasn't a better idea - oh well - too late. I pushed on and kept focused on the person in front. I actually ended up running with a guy named Josh who was a first time trail runner. We talked a little bit and eventually he headed out past me around mile 6. By this point I was on more familiar ground with the trail since I had run this trail throughout the summer, but my knee was feeling the pounding of the downhill running. When I hit the road, I felt a sense of ease and picked up my pace, only to slow down a bit on the way up the sledding hill. Back down the hill my knee protested a bit, but I pushed on with the finish in site.

I finished in 1:21:58 - about a 8:48/mile pace which I was pretty happy with given my running over the last few weeks. So I am hoping for a more regular routine, but we will have to see. Maybe I'll try to run the Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving morning, but again, it will depend on how my running goes. More to follow... until then Happy Running...