Trail running

I ran in my very first trail run Saturday; the Cave Creek Trail Run which was a 10k (6.2 miles). It was really hard!   I've hiked trails in the past, and I've done my share of running on roads, but neither of those things by themselves prepare you for running a race on trails.

Here's a picture of how the race started out>>>> 

U.P.H.I.L.L.

And that was just the first of about 6 or 7 uphill climbs we had to tackle on this route.

I managed to run up this one and maybe the second and third one but after that, if the ground was headed upwards, I was walking it.

I felt like I was doing pretty good on the level areas and I felt really strong on the downhill sections. (You're probably thinking, "well, of course you did good going downhill - who wouldn't?!" Well, when you're on a narrow trail covered in loose rock of all sizes and surrounded by prickly cactus, branches sticking out over the trail and other runners, it's no easy task to keep up a good pace. So there).

 



So anyway. I tried to make up some time on the downhill sections and also by NOT stopping at the water station like everyone else (I was carrying my own blend of water and Gatorade). But due to my lack of training in recent weeks while rehabbing my shin splints, I started to lose steam after about 4.5 miles. I also noticed that my heart rate had spiked to 180 at one point and although I wanted to finish with a good time, I didn't want my heart to explode while doing it.

(Many thanks to Lisa for taking most of these photos!)

I eventually finished with a time of 1 hour 17 minutes and 49 seconds. This was shocking to me because my official time on the one and only other 10k I've run (last October) was 1 hour and 9 minutes. This race was SO MUCH harder and yet it only took me an additional 8 minutes to run it! And that has proven to me that all those hours I've spent running, and all those miles I've put in, are actually paying off. It's slow progress for sure. BUT IT'S PROGRESS.

The highlight of the day though, was meeting two of my DailyMile friends at the race: Johanna and Xavier. If you're not familiar with DailyMile, it's sort of a Facebook for athletes except you post your daily workouts there and your athlete friends post comments and give encouragement. These two have been great supporters from the start and their encouragement has kept me going when the going got tough. Finally meeting them in person proved to me what I already suspected: they are kind, friendly, optimistic, thoughful people. Not to mention good-looking! Check 'em out:

 I also got to meet Xavier's friend Rodan, and Johanna's son Kane, who were just as nice.  :)

So I would consider my first trail run a success. My lower legs were sore the next day and I needed extra sleep, but I didn't do too bad for a 50 year old newbie runner. Next race: WARRIOR DASH!!