On my easy run Friday I noticed that my right Achilles was a little cranky. It wasn't too bad, but enough to concern me since for the last 18 months or so, I've been dealing with this same Achilles giving me trouble. I put the crankiness down to over stretching it on the slant board the evening before. As luck would have it, my right hip was also sore. This is something that's been bothering me on and off since late September. I thought it was all healed, but I think i aggravated it earlier in the week, probably when doing kettle bell swings. So, I went into this race a bit concerned that I should not actually run it because of my owies and since the terrain would probably be harder on them then the road.

But, one thing I do consistently is stupid stuff, so I ran. The race is a very, very small trail race and is the 3d in a series put on by this company. I also ran the 2d in the series. All the races were at different venues, so I didn't know what the course would be like, but it was advertised as a less technical trail than the 2d. And it was.

The last race was run on a single track bike course that was really, really, really rooty with some other bike obstacles thrown in for fun. This course was pretty much wide open trail. The terrain varied from hard pack dirt to softer sand covered with pine needles, to kind of easy to run on grass to really spongy grass. It even had about .30 of a mile of sidewalk. The .5 mile extra loop was single track with roots. So, the course was not technical, but it was challenging.

Like last race, I was there with one of my running program friends. This time it was Tracie. She is faster than me, but has a marathon this weekend, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to stick with her. Then there was Freeman. He also sometimes runs with the program. He was at the last race too and he annoyed the crapola out of me by staying on my ass for miles and miles. I hoped that without single track, if he was near me he'd at least run next to me or off my ass a bit, but I wasn't optimistic.

The gun went off and Tracie and I started together. I wasn't sure where Freeman was. In pretty short order it became clear that I was not going to be running with Tracie! But I hoped to use her to pace off which meant not letting her get too far ahead. That worked pretty well the entire first loop. In fact, there were a couple of times where I thought I would catch her. But, nope. I was aware that Freeman was near me most of the first loop too. He would catch up, run on my ass for a while and then back off. This wouldn't be so annoying if he didn't have such a heavy footfall. In fact, he kind of runs like he's a zombie -arms sort of hanging by his sides, not picking his feet up much. And, even with all the room in the world, he'd just come right up on my ass!! Thankfully, unlike last race he didn't stay there too long any one time.

At about mile 5.5 we ran into the back of the 5k people, so the course did get a bit crowded. But it was kind of nice to actually pass people. About a mile later, the 5kers headed to the finish and the rest of us did the extra single track loop. This was where Freeman got right on my ass. When we came out, he passed me. Yay! But that didn't last long. He stopped or slowed to do something -nutrition I think, so I passed him and he never passed me back.

It was on this second loop that I lost sight of Tracie. I had her in my vision until about a mile into it when we were on hard packed dirt and she picked up the pace and soon was a little dot on the horizon. Then the dot was gone!

At this point it seemed like I was alone on the course, I could see no one in front of me and heard no one behind me. That didn't last forever though as Freeman re-emerged! Once again he came right up on my tail. We were actually running through a field at that point, so he had tons of room to move around me, but nope, he just sat there. As I was getting ready to tell him it was his turn to pace and to move pass, he dropped off. He never really got close enough again to bug me!! Woo Hoo!

It was on the second loop that my Achilles and hip started screaming at me. I spent some quality time poking my finger into my hip trying to get some relief. It was not effective! I contemplated stopping, but decided it hurt the same to run or walk, so I might as well run and get it over with sooner. I'm such a smarty! To be honest, my ego probably made me keep running. Stupid ego!

In the last mile or so I finally came up to some runners (so I wasn't alone out there!) and was able to pass them pretty easily. Then there was the finish line. Woo Hoo!!

Crossed the finish line and was handed a huge medal, a pint glass with a really cool design and a bottle of water. Tracie came over to me and she was already halfway done with a beer! She finished 6 minutes ahead of me! My second loop was definitely slower than my first, but hers was way faster. She said during the first 4 miles of the race she was cursing me and Susan (who talked her into it and then had to bail) and cursing trail running. This is a woman who just last year hiked the entire AT, she should love trails!! After the first loop she started to enjoy herself and decided she better stop running so slowly! Ha, her slow is even faster than my race pace!!
Freeman finished about 30 seconds after I finished. He later said his plan all along was to pace off me. But, I ran this race faster than the last, so he had trouble staying up with me. I really should have told him that pacing off me is fine, but he needs to stay back just a bit or move to the side or something other than literally breathing down my neck! Hmm, do you think this bothered me :)
After I changed clothes it was my turn to get some beer. Tracie had another just to keep me company and we waited for the awards. The nice thing about small races is they get to the awards quickly and you have a real good chance of getting one!
Tracie won her AG, I won mine and Freeman came in 8 in his. I guess he shouldn't pick a woman who is 6-7 years older than him to pace off!! ;)

After that it was time for a late breakfast. My hip and Achilles were really jacked up, so I limped my way through the rest of the day.

Not running with a hurt Achilles and hip would be a start!

just walking to the car for clothes to change into and back to the finish line for beer and awards.


I really enjoy the races this company puts on and hope to do the whole series next year.