TRAIL MIX

I did the first part of my long run today while watching the Trail Mix. My training group had 3 people running the 25k, including our coach, a mixed relay team and a member on another relay team. This is a very hilly trail race that consists of a 12.5K loop. After watching the runners start, I ran around on the flatter section for an hour. Prior to the race I told Mary I’d run the 2nd lap with her. She came through the halfway point in 1:04 and looked strong. When I joined her, her 8:15 pace was a shock to my system. Even though I’d been running around, it took awhile to get into a rhythm.

In 1997 I ran this course in 2:00:22, prior to my 3:17 at Grandma’s. 8 years was long enough for me to forget how tough this course is. One of the hills is long, narrow and rocky. It leads to the top of a ski hill and probably takes 3-4 minutes to get up. Once at the top, you crest the ski hill and go down a very steep slope. Shortly after that there’s a section with wood chips. While great on the legs, the wood chips absorb all the energy out of your legs.

All of our hill training must be paying off because Mary ended up running even splits. She passed two women in the last 5k to finish in the top-10. Our coach ran well, finishing 2nd in the 45-49 age-group, Jose ran a 2:17 and the relay team took 2nd in the mixed division.

I ended up running around for 2:57 and called it 21. The only “bad” thing is, with all the standing around to cheer and talk with everyone, it took me three and a half hours to run for that long. So for my last two 20 milers I’ll make sure to run them as continuously as possible. Overall for the week I ended up with 82 miles on 9 runs.