Beachfront Bushwhack - Run5 Mile

Well, this was my first trail run, and i had a blast, it was well organized and there were alot of people. To start the day, they had a kids 1 mile trail run for the younun's, and let me tell you, the kid that won it was like 9 or 10 and got done in 5:15, absolutly flying, totally impressive. After all the kids got done we all kinda mulled over to the start area till the gun goes off, which everyone in the back with me was soooo not expecting. It started off up hill and wound through some very scenic coastal and woodlands sections. My friend and neighbor Sam came with me and this was his first road race, he is a little guy and a soccer player so he runs much better than me, so i told him from the get go to go on ahead and run your race and i will see ya near the end. So we start out up the hill, and i am immediately looking for a group to run with. I start towards the back cause i am slow, and get with a good group, we wind through the woods and then out onto the beach area, let me tell you...running in sand is hard work, especially when you roll at 240lbs, not quite lite and pixie like going through the sand, more like bull in china shop. So we get off the beach and have to cross over a single file bridge, so i let the lady in front of me go and fall in behind. Then the time comes for my first walk, i run 8 mins and walk 2, so i can average 10 min miles, that is where i am in my training and i am content with that, i can run longer, but it is not where i am, so i did not push. A bunch of people go past me when i slow, nothing unusual and i am now used to getting passed on the run, it happens so much, lololo. I get through the first walk and being the chatty type i am during these things, start running with a really pretty woman about my age, we start talking and she is a mom of 3 with the same name as my wife, and her husband and kids were there cheering her on, that was pretty cool, we loop back around near the start finish and sure enough there are the family yelling and screaaming for their mom. She asks me why i walk and i explain, and she says, must not be too bad of an idea, cause she runs slower, but after may walks i catch right up to her till the next time. This goes on for the rest of the race, and she was easy to spot since she was wearing a black and hot pink wind jacket. At about mile 2 i have to pee.....again....for like the third time of the day, no more coffee on race days for me....seriously this time.....no really i mean it. So off to the woods i go, this is annoying by the way, cause i am running well and did not want to stop. At about mile 3 the trail is part of the return trip, and here comes the leader and he is flying, and these trails are about 1 1/2 persons wide, so we all go into the woods so as to not impeded him, since he is THE MAN. Seriously it turns out that this guy has won the race for the last 14 YEARS and would go on to claim #15, and the dude is 45 years old. So about mile 4 we start going up hill, after jumping many logs, hay bales and such we come to a set of stair.....fer real...... stairs in the woods......concrete and steep as hell.....turns out the land is i believe and old fort or something and there is still some foundation and such so up the stairs i go, very slowly i might add, get to the top and it loops around and then goes straight down hill------>>>>> so as i am going down i say to the woman, boy i wonder where the water stops are, and low and behold....... some red cross volunteers handing out water bottles, which was perfect, so we go a little further and it is very hard to pass on these trails cause they are tight, so you basically run single file, we finally get out of the woods and start running the home stretch through the parklot, i am now running 2 or 3 mins and walking for 30 sec to a min and i am gassed, we start to have to run past pedestrians, runners that are not in the race and people walking their kids and such, so you have to be a little careful. finally we get out of the public area and back to the fields that are where the start finish line is, at this point i am just hanging on and i come up the last hill around the bend to the start finish, whooo hoooo, down hill i go, there are all sorts of people there cheering, my buddy Sam is there cheering and i finsihed about 1 min behind my lady friend who finally got away, she waited gave me a big ol' hug and introduced me to her family, and her kids high fived me, which i though was cool as snow!!! My buddy same comes rushing over and he is all excited, he is like "Dude these races are awesome, when is the next one!!!???" So i think i have a running race partner for the winter at least. All in all a good time and the best thing is i am getting better at running and maintaining a pace. No calf pain always is good, so maybe i have finally healed what ever had been agravating it.

Just keep training and i will get faster, i cannot expect to be Flash Gordon, after only 4 or 5 months of training.

we walked around checked out the pace booty, which for this race was aplenty, had a banana and some water, checked the results, saw the winner crowned and headed out for home.


240lbs....... period


Thanx for reading my short story, i hope you enjoyed it.