The course started out down a long grade that was paved and took you across the timing mat. When you reached the bottom of the paved run there were two sets of steps where it really bunched up. The first set of steps took you down two steps and then up 4 steps but there was a cleared trail right next to the steps so Tri Daddy grabbed my arm, forced me onto the trail and then made me drag him up the 4 foot steep trail to get to the road. Across the rode we hit another set of steps that took you down to the trail and I was able to squeeze through some people leaving my Tri Dad behind me, I hit the trail and settled in. I made it through the first loop which was less than a mile and started on the second loop when my Tri Dad caught up with and PASSED me...what? Really? Come on Mike, you already ran a 5K this morning...yeah totally passed me and I hung for about 200 yards before I couldn't keep up. Tri Dad is just plain faster then me, I can't compete. The run was awesome but I really need to spend some more time trail running, I'm so slow on trails. I just choose not to trail run often because I always end up getting turned around - well, ok, somewhat lost, this is why I like trail races because I don't get lost on a race, I just follow the person in front of me :) The 4 sets of steps were brutal - B-R-U-T-A-L but the rest of the run was very pleasent. As a matter of fact, I had been in a bit of a funk prior to the race, just lots of stuff running through my mind, and low and behold it all seemed to dissipate throughout the course of the run. The last section of the run had you climb and turn through some trails before hitting the paved downhill to the finish and while I got geezered many times throughout the race, I passed this old dude walking in the last quarter mile. I hit the paved down hill and was trotting along and all of a sudden I could hear heavy breathing and looked over my shoulder, it was the old dude I passed on the trail - oh hell NO! I was not about to be geezered in the last 200 yards by the dude I just passsed. I heard my Tri Dad yelling...I turned on the jets and left the old dude in the dust. Forget that sh*t. Ha ha ha - I finished and Mike was yelling for me to go pick up my medal.

Nada - this wasn't about competition - it was about getting a workout and running trails (which I totally suck at ) without the fear of getting lost. It was all for fun.

Gave my Tri Dad a big hug - who, by the way, loves that I call him Tri Dad and his wife Tri Mama. We waited for Tri Mama to finish and hoot and hollared as she was finishing. We grabbed some cookies and a couple of sodas. I fished my keys out of the key bucket and then walked back to the car with the Tri parents. I headed home with the promise of meeting them next week for training and met friends for a couple of beers.


I'm not going to make excuses...I'm just slow.