Run at the Rock race report ... aka things I learned today (Read 922 times)

For starters, here's the race website: http://www.runattherock.com. It's a beautiful, mostly wooded course set in hills. Um... lots of hills. The weather was lovely, since it's stopped raining. Um ... rain for the whole week before a trail run is a bad thing. The website describes the course as "challenging." Um ... they meant it! You could sum up my race with two words: woefully unprepared! However, I did learn a lot! Here's what I learned about trail racing today. 1) As mentioned above, rain for the whole week before a trail run is a bad thing. There were parts of the run that were not a shoe-sucking quagmire. Maybe half, at most. 2) Mud can steal shoes. 3) I'm not the only one who falls down. (Note: I did better than many people in this department, as I only fell once and only rolled my ankle once...) 4) If you step really quickly you can kinda-sorta run across a muddy area without sinking in to it. Um... kinda-sorta, anyway. 5) Trail-blazing through dense underbrush can be faster and take less effort than staying on the trail. 6) If you're offered pieces of banana along with your gatorade/water at the aid station, chug your drink first and then try to eat the banana. Having a mouthful of banana makes drinking difficult! Trying to breathe through that same mouth while it's full of banana and gatorade is a waste of time at best! :: ahem:: 7) If a web-site says a course is challenging, they probably mean it. (Without the mud, that is!) For some reason I had hopes that it would be similar to the "trail" 10K I'd run earlier in the year. It was nothing like it!!! 8) Constantly running on the side of the trail so that the swarms of people passing you can get by is extra-wearying. 9) When you suspect at a half mile into the 14 mile course that you got in way over your head... you probably did. 10) A 14 mile course that is really a 7 mile loop run twice... can suddenly become a 7 mile course! 11) When preparing for race day, pack an extra pair of socks and shoes in the car to change into after the race. 12) The trails I've trained on were nothing like these. I need to find harder trails. 13) Racing in shoes wet from splashing across streams makes for nasty blisters. By the end of the first loop, I was half-way through the allotted time before they closed the course, my energy was 80% gone, my joints and muscles were severely complaining from the unaccustomed strains of (muddy) trail racing, and I knew that if I tried to continue on at this pace I was going to hurt myself. So I wisely but sadly decided that I would finish at 7 miles. There was, after all, both a 7 mile and 14 mile division. It's just that I'd signed up for, and had planned to complete, the 14 miles. However, I don't think I've ever had so much fun getting my butt whooped! I am definitely going to keep my eyes open for more trail races! To do list: 1) Go back to my regular trails and tell them I met their big sister... and that she was ugly and wore combat boots! 2) Rematch next year...

Girl you just put a lot in perspective for me but I will probably save that for another post and not boycott this one. You do like to challenge yourself don't you! The closest I get to trail running is if I run on the grass verge at the side of the road rather than on the sidewalk and I even feel pain doing that. Just the thought of 14 miles terrifies me. The thought of 7 miles on a trail leaves me traumatised. The thought of 7 miles on a muddy wet hilly trail is unthinkable. Huge pat on the back for completing the 7 mile and once again you are my inspiration for making sensible decisions as to making a 'good call' during a race. I was checking out your log earlier - you're pushing your pace quite a bit too with that interval work! Go girl! Be kind to those poor feet honey. Claire xxx

I forgot to mention: 14) Loose leaves can provide traction on muddy hills! They are your friend here!

Hi wingz, Your 14 points confirm all my suspicions about trail racing Good for you those finish 7 miles you were not prepared for! BTW: Saw the pictures on the site, beautiful scenery! bas

Now THAT's a race report. Good job, Wingz!

Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Very impressive run and great report. I love trail running as long as it's dry. Some of my favorite trails in the area have the type of soil that at the first rain turns into a very sticky mud. After a few steps my shoes weigh 5 lbs/each more. Not fun. I am sure next year you are going to cruise all 14 miles mud or not. Ewa

Great report and great accomplishment! To get in the proper mood, I'm sitting here eating some trail mix as I read your report. Glad to hear you had such a good time.

The mud only stole the other guys' shoes. At least two people. Probably many more - that's just the ones I saw/heard about. And hey, the guy who I think won the 14 miler skidded and fell most magnificently right in front of me. It was, in a sick way, kind of gratifying... Actually, when I fell on the trail it hurt significantly less than the time just a week prior when I tripped on a curb and fell on sidewalk. The sidewalk left a rather large bruise. The trail didn't even hurt! So yes, falling hurts less on trails if you manage to avoid rocks... I'm still using regular athletic socks. The blisters formed and burst before they were even noticed. Guess I had other things on my mind! And the pictures on the site don't do justice to the course. Not by a long shot. They contributed to my thinking that this would be a moderately flat course with some gentle, rolling hills. NOT!!! It is, however, just as lovely as the pictures. And the waterfall looked just like the picture. "Lovely" is an understatement. I did stop to admire it. After all, I was in no danger of losing my last-place finish by giving up 20 seconds to admire it...