Amanda and Susan met at my house and I drove us the 85 miles to the race. Temps were in the mid-upper 40*s in Orlando, so I wore shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt with arm warmers. Thought I'd switch to a short-sleeve t once at the site, but it was only 39* there! Yes, those are cold temps for us, so no laughing! We arrived right as the park opened so got a great spot in front of the park office/building which had real bathrooms. Score! We were also about 50 feet from the starting line, so we could hang out in the car until right before the gun.

Since my surgery was 2+ months ago, I was told I was ok to run this trail race, but I had to be really careful of my footing and walk any really tricky areas so I didn't fall and really mess up my shoulder. The course was described as non-technical, but I did not know what that meant. Even after running it, I'm not sure how things are classified as technical or non-technical as there were A LOT of tricky footing- lots of roots, cypress knees, holes, areas dug up by wild pigs, etc.

The start of the race was actually on pavement which allowed a bit of thinning out before it turned onto single track. Too bad I didn't seed myself further up as i was behind some slow people on this section and the course was such that going around them would have meant the real possibility of falling into a hole. So I didn't try to move around anyone. Luckily, it wasn't too terribly long until the course became double track and I could move around folk. This was the pattern the whole race -single track for a bit and then double track. The back half was more single than double, but by the last 3 miles everyone had gotten into a position where there was no need to pass.

There were some really big areas of mud/water on the course that required me to walk. I tried running one after I saw a woman in front of me -who was about my size, pretty much walk on top of the mud, but when I tried it I sunk and almost lost my shoe! How's she do that?? I guess I need more trail running experience to get that float on top of things move down!!

Other areas were big water crossings - 2 of them (really the same one we did twice) were up to my knees. They actually felt good to go through as by that point it was warmer and I was hot!

For the last 3 miles I was sort of running with 3 guys. They'd run ahead of me and then start walking. When I caught back up, they'd run again. I think one of the guys was having a hard time as the others were telling him that at that point in the race everything was a mental challenge and not a physical one. With one mile to go, the one really seemed to be fading, so I said something to them about there only being a mile (none had a watch that I could see). That cheered them up and they picked things up again.
I forgot that this was a non-chip race and that you were supposed to look at the race clock as you finished and then put that time down on a race result form they gave you. To be fair to me, no one mentioned the check your time, so you can record it bit, so it is not totally my fault that I did not really pay attention to clock time. I had my garmin, so I just used that time. I know I finished in the top 25 women as I was handed the water bottle prize given to the top 25. Official results are still to come.
Susan and Amanda finished together. That means Susan crashed and burned b/c she is a good deal faster.

After the race, I hosed myself off, changed and waited for the other 2 and then we headed for breakfast. Breakfast is the reason we run!!

I need to run more trails!!

Getting cleaned up, drinking water and waiting for others.


Me.


As i was running this race I kept thinking just how awesome it is to be able to hike and run at the same time. Trail running is the best.
And, I didn't fall. I may have had a couple of close calls, but nothing too scary!!