Just finished my first trail running event - 16 miles!
easfahl
Posts: 567 Member
Well, finished my first trail race event this past Sunday. What an amazing event! It was part of the Bass Pro Outdoor Fitness Festival. Among other area outdoor adventure properties, the owner of Bass Pro also owns Big Cedar Lodge and a beautiful 2000 acre nature park called Dogwood Canyon here in the Ozark Mountains. Holy cow! Multiple different breeds of trout in beautiful naturally-aerated streams with multiple water falls dumping in from natural springs. Since it's fall in the Ozarks, I'm sure you can image the gorgeous foliage. We took a 2-hour guided tram tour through the park and heard all the awesome stories behind the falls and caves, plus saw deer, elk, beefalo (cattle crossed with buffalo), long horn cattle, river otter, beaver, and even 2 bald eagles! During the tour we also got a few sneak peaks of short sections of the trail race for Sunday. We knew it would be tough....
Backing up a tick... Days leading up to the event: I usually try to carb-load for the 3 days prior to an endurance event. Thursday was right on track. However we were traveling with and sharing a condo (on Tablerock Lake - gorgeous!) with another running gal pal of mine for the event weekend. She's more of a natural runner (remember, I'm a mountain biker more than a runner) so she never really watches her nutritional intake. I'm in the gym a lot and trying to lean down right now so I pay pretty close attention to my nutrition. Needless to say, my pre-event diet was really hard to stick to this past weekend, especially when a third of our party was a 4 y/o and a 6 y/o in small-town (read: limited dining options) Missouri. I did bring a few of my homemade protein bars and favorite snacks so that helped balance my intake a bit.
Race morning: I was definitely nervous. This was going to be the farthest I'd ever run in one outing, and it promised to be tough with tons of hills and multiple creek crossings. I didn't even train for the creek crossings in my trail shoes as I was essentially still breaking them in. My friend and I arrived ~1 hour early to mill around, warm up stretch, and eat a few last minute snacks. I'm a bit of a water-holic, and since I'm a cyclist, a Camelbak feels pretty natural on my back, almost like my safety blanket. Plus, it was unseasonably warm so I knew I'd be sipping most of the event. Some events aren't supported very well so I didn't want to have to rely on aid stations. I packed my bag with the usual sport beans and a combo of small blocks of microwaved sweet potatoes, dried cranberries, and dried dates. There were a lot of competitors for such a small area so we were packed at the start like sardines. I think they limited the event to a total of 650 competitors for 3 race distances: 15k, 25k, and 50k. I couldn't even hear the pre-race instructions. Oh well, hope I didn't miss anything important...
THREE... TWO... ONE... GOOOOOO!
Well, more like slowly jog within the crowd of packed sardines. It was really hard to pace and pass in the first 2 miles. I told my friend just to run her own race and I'd see her at the finish line. I feel less pressure that way anyway since she's faster than me. The first water crossing was at the end of mile 1 so there were bottlenecks of people trying to find shallower spots in the 15-foot-wide crossing. After a few more creek crossings we found ourselves at the foot of the first real hill, and it was pretty damn steep. At least there were a few switchbacks to help with the climb. Plus, it was double-track so there was plenty of passing area. Everyone in my immediate vicinity was power-hiking the hills. I read that's what you were supposed to do anyway. I did baby-step run down the hills as I didn't have much trouble with that during training. Then...holy hell, I mean HOLY HILL! I trained for hills but this is ridiculous!!! For some reason they decided the next few hills didn't need switchbacks! Who was high when they built this trail?! And on top of that, most of them were four-wheeler trails so there were tons of loose, fist-sized rocks that rolled around under your feet, stealing any momentum you happen to achieve. It was after a few more creek crossings and knarlly hills, around miles 6-8, that I started wondering if I should have done the 15k instead of the 25k. But it's just not my personality to do the shortest distance offered. On a more positive note, I will say I was amazed at how well stocked the aid stations were. They had sugary candy like M&Ms, Mike and Ikes, and Twizzlers for that immediate rush of sugar. Plus there were Sport Beans and even chunks of cold, slightly cooked but not soggy, potatoes! A+ in that department! Heck, I didn't even eat anything out of my fully-stocked pack the whole race! I think the stocked aid stations definitely helped me get my 2nd, or 3rd, or whatever numbered wind back. By miles 10 and 11 I had kicked the Negative-Nancy out and moved in Energizer Bunny! I was on fire for miles 13-16! There was a steep section of downhill switchbacks leading up to the last 400 yards of straightaway in front of the finish line. And the grade lessened a bit so you could pick up a bit more steam coming into the last 200 yards without blowing out your quads. The last 50 yards traveled over a stone bridge where spectators were seated cheering on the finishers. I heard some yell, "Sprint it out!" HELL YEAH! I charged and sprinted the last 50 yards! I felt SO good! And my own personal cheering squad was there to greet me: my boyfriend and his boy, plus my running pal and her family. What an absolute high! As soon as I got my bearings and got my timing chip cut off, I walked down to the river and strolled right in with my gear on. My trail shoes had done such a good job with the water management, and all my feet were already wet, I just strolled in with my shoes on. Oh the cold trout water felt so good! Everything felt good! I'd finished!
After we cooled down a bit, we sat down for an awesome meal catered by Big Cedar Lodge. Holy yumminess, Batman! We had range-free beef hamburgers, fresh veggies, award-winning chili, and homemade cookies! This was definitely a PLUS to participating in an event mostly sponsored by a millionaire who loves the outdoors! (mental note!) All the finishers got cool medals for our collections. Plus, the 25k and 50k finishers got awesome performance hoodies/fleece with the event and distance printed on them with "FINISHER." Yet another bonus to the millionaire outdoorsman sponsor: awesome gear.
Anyway, to put it shortly, what an absolutely amazing weekend. Beautiful scenery + awesomely challenging, well-marked trail + wonderfully supported event = totally rockin' experience! My pal got 5th out of 20 women in her group, and I got 13th out of 29 women in my group. I'll totally take that for my first endurance trail running event!
Here are a few pictures from the event. Notice I'm smiling in almost every photo!
Backing up a tick... Days leading up to the event: I usually try to carb-load for the 3 days prior to an endurance event. Thursday was right on track. However we were traveling with and sharing a condo (on Tablerock Lake - gorgeous!) with another running gal pal of mine for the event weekend. She's more of a natural runner (remember, I'm a mountain biker more than a runner) so she never really watches her nutritional intake. I'm in the gym a lot and trying to lean down right now so I pay pretty close attention to my nutrition. Needless to say, my pre-event diet was really hard to stick to this past weekend, especially when a third of our party was a 4 y/o and a 6 y/o in small-town (read: limited dining options) Missouri. I did bring a few of my homemade protein bars and favorite snacks so that helped balance my intake a bit.
Race morning: I was definitely nervous. This was going to be the farthest I'd ever run in one outing, and it promised to be tough with tons of hills and multiple creek crossings. I didn't even train for the creek crossings in my trail shoes as I was essentially still breaking them in. My friend and I arrived ~1 hour early to mill around, warm up stretch, and eat a few last minute snacks. I'm a bit of a water-holic, and since I'm a cyclist, a Camelbak feels pretty natural on my back, almost like my safety blanket. Plus, it was unseasonably warm so I knew I'd be sipping most of the event. Some events aren't supported very well so I didn't want to have to rely on aid stations. I packed my bag with the usual sport beans and a combo of small blocks of microwaved sweet potatoes, dried cranberries, and dried dates. There were a lot of competitors for such a small area so we were packed at the start like sardines. I think they limited the event to a total of 650 competitors for 3 race distances: 15k, 25k, and 50k. I couldn't even hear the pre-race instructions. Oh well, hope I didn't miss anything important...
THREE... TWO... ONE... GOOOOOO!
Well, more like slowly jog within the crowd of packed sardines. It was really hard to pace and pass in the first 2 miles. I told my friend just to run her own race and I'd see her at the finish line. I feel less pressure that way anyway since she's faster than me. The first water crossing was at the end of mile 1 so there were bottlenecks of people trying to find shallower spots in the 15-foot-wide crossing. After a few more creek crossings we found ourselves at the foot of the first real hill, and it was pretty damn steep. At least there were a few switchbacks to help with the climb. Plus, it was double-track so there was plenty of passing area. Everyone in my immediate vicinity was power-hiking the hills. I read that's what you were supposed to do anyway. I did baby-step run down the hills as I didn't have much trouble with that during training. Then...holy hell, I mean HOLY HILL! I trained for hills but this is ridiculous!!! For some reason they decided the next few hills didn't need switchbacks! Who was high when they built this trail?! And on top of that, most of them were four-wheeler trails so there were tons of loose, fist-sized rocks that rolled around under your feet, stealing any momentum you happen to achieve. It was after a few more creek crossings and knarlly hills, around miles 6-8, that I started wondering if I should have done the 15k instead of the 25k. But it's just not my personality to do the shortest distance offered. On a more positive note, I will say I was amazed at how well stocked the aid stations were. They had sugary candy like M&Ms, Mike and Ikes, and Twizzlers for that immediate rush of sugar. Plus there were Sport Beans and even chunks of cold, slightly cooked but not soggy, potatoes! A+ in that department! Heck, I didn't even eat anything out of my fully-stocked pack the whole race! I think the stocked aid stations definitely helped me get my 2nd, or 3rd, or whatever numbered wind back. By miles 10 and 11 I had kicked the Negative-Nancy out and moved in Energizer Bunny! I was on fire for miles 13-16! There was a steep section of downhill switchbacks leading up to the last 400 yards of straightaway in front of the finish line. And the grade lessened a bit so you could pick up a bit more steam coming into the last 200 yards without blowing out your quads. The last 50 yards traveled over a stone bridge where spectators were seated cheering on the finishers. I heard some yell, "Sprint it out!" HELL YEAH! I charged and sprinted the last 50 yards! I felt SO good! And my own personal cheering squad was there to greet me: my boyfriend and his boy, plus my running pal and her family. What an absolute high! As soon as I got my bearings and got my timing chip cut off, I walked down to the river and strolled right in with my gear on. My trail shoes had done such a good job with the water management, and all my feet were already wet, I just strolled in with my shoes on. Oh the cold trout water felt so good! Everything felt good! I'd finished!
After we cooled down a bit, we sat down for an awesome meal catered by Big Cedar Lodge. Holy yumminess, Batman! We had range-free beef hamburgers, fresh veggies, award-winning chili, and homemade cookies! This was definitely a PLUS to participating in an event mostly sponsored by a millionaire who loves the outdoors! (mental note!) All the finishers got cool medals for our collections. Plus, the 25k and 50k finishers got awesome performance hoodies/fleece with the event and distance printed on them with "FINISHER." Yet another bonus to the millionaire outdoorsman sponsor: awesome gear.
Anyway, to put it shortly, what an absolutely amazing weekend. Beautiful scenery + awesomely challenging, well-marked trail + wonderfully supported event = totally rockin' experience! My pal got 5th out of 20 women in her group, and I got 13th out of 29 women in my group. I'll totally take that for my first endurance trail running event!
Here are a few pictures from the event. Notice I'm smiling in almost every photo!
0
Replies
-
Nice!!!!!! Great pictures. Way to slay those roots! Trail running is magic, isn't it?
0 -
I LOVE the long distances! Yep, truly magic. Bye, bye pavement running.0
-
Looks awesome. Wish I was close enough to do this next year. I did a trail half last year and that was brilliant fun.
Lovely photos too.
2013 I'm doing this: http://www.ratracedirtyweekend.com/0
