Nature Girl's a Dirty Girl!
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:03 pm
I've been thinking about my fellow Dirty Girls all morning hoping their overnighter went well. And I thought I'd write a little report while it was fresh in my mind for my first trail race, the 30k.
I left Sudbury at about 2pm after rushing to pack in about 20 minutes and stopped at the LCBO, gas station and grocery store to pick up food I didn't need to cook since I didn't feel like rummaging through my stuff to find the camp stove.
I arrived at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre at around 6pm and set up my tent beside a couple of great guys I ran with in Haliburton a few weeks ago. They were doing the 24 hour as a relay team. I dug into my pasta salad and Strongbow, met Msdesigner, saw UltraQueenga and the Viking, and chatted with a few other racers and went to bed.
The camp was quiet by 9pm. I forgot a pillow and didn't have a great sleep (never really do in tents). I hate getting out of the tent to pee, so I tried to ignore it until morning
.which kept me up a bit too. Originally the family was going to come up with me but I think it’s a good thing they didn’t. They can be a bit loud and still wake up in the middle of the night, which I don’t think my fellow racers would have appreciated .
Woke up, had a granola bar and a wonderful coffee from Msdesigner (thank-you!) and slowly got dressed for the race.
The 6, 12, & 24 hour crazy people started at 8am (30k started at 8:30). Spotted a guy in a tutu... I clued in that it was RabidChipmunk and introduced myself. During the race, I was passed by a guy in a turquoise skort, he said hi and zoomed by and I thought to myself that it was West Grey (?).
Diane, the race organizer talked to the groups and said the 30k awards ceremony would be at 12:30, which I took in my mind to be the cut off time. My goal for this race was to finish happy, unhurt, not last, and before 12:30pm, since this was my first trail race and the longest distance I've run on trails.
So 8:30 am rolls around and we start. I make sure to get myself near the back of the pack to keep from starting out too fast, which I always do. The first loop was all about checking out the course, and I also made an effort to keep up with this one runner. The first 10k loop I completed in 1:09 which I was very happy with but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up.
The second loop, my energy was low. At some point I heard someone yell "now that's what I'm talking about!" on a parallel trail, I turned to look and sure enough, I hit a root and wiped out. 2 minutes later I do it again. I just wasn’t paying attention and not lifting my feet up because I was feeling a bit tired. I laugh at myself and try to shake it off and keep going. Some of the runner's that started at 8am were beginning to pass me. It was nice to say hello to others and saw a few people I knew. Later on I pass someone and shortly after my toe hits the end of a skinny root and I do a face plant. I was seriously dirty at this point.
Some memorable parts of the loop: dirty runner’s pain – a hill about 7K in and 1/2 a K long which seemed never ending the first time it came around; pig tail’s a flying – a twisty, downhill, fun section; and my favourite: beer gut boy’s a singin’ – near the end of the loop, fast and downhill and brings you to the start/finish.
3rd loop I was a bit more cautious because of the wipe-outs and was still feeling a bit tired. Passed a couple of people but was still being passed by a lot of the 24 hour folks (I am in awe!). I caught up to a group of them again (some of the regulars) and they moved to let me pass but I said I wasn’t in a hurry and decided to hang behind them for a bit. My strategy for the 3rd loop was to walk all the hills, run the flats easy and give’r down the hills. I looked at my watch and it was 12:24. I said, oh crap I have 6 minutes to finish. Out of nowhere, a burst of energy came and I finished 34 seconds after 12:30, my finish time being 4:00:34. Got my dirty runner key chain, and a butter tart (mmm, my favourite) and chugged water.
After the race I cheered on the sidelines, had some food but as I was sitting there the mother’s guilt was setting in and I got ready to head on home.
This race was great preparation for Haliburton. And I’m looking forward to going back next year!
I left Sudbury at about 2pm after rushing to pack in about 20 minutes and stopped at the LCBO, gas station and grocery store to pick up food I didn't need to cook since I didn't feel like rummaging through my stuff to find the camp stove.
I arrived at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre at around 6pm and set up my tent beside a couple of great guys I ran with in Haliburton a few weeks ago. They were doing the 24 hour as a relay team. I dug into my pasta salad and Strongbow, met Msdesigner, saw UltraQueenga and the Viking, and chatted with a few other racers and went to bed.
The camp was quiet by 9pm. I forgot a pillow and didn't have a great sleep (never really do in tents). I hate getting out of the tent to pee, so I tried to ignore it until morning
.which kept me up a bit too. Originally the family was going to come up with me but I think it’s a good thing they didn’t. They can be a bit loud and still wake up in the middle of the night, which I don’t think my fellow racers would have appreciated .
Woke up, had a granola bar and a wonderful coffee from Msdesigner (thank-you!) and slowly got dressed for the race.
The 6, 12, & 24 hour crazy people started at 8am (30k started at 8:30). Spotted a guy in a tutu... I clued in that it was RabidChipmunk and introduced myself. During the race, I was passed by a guy in a turquoise skort, he said hi and zoomed by and I thought to myself that it was West Grey (?).
Diane, the race organizer talked to the groups and said the 30k awards ceremony would be at 12:30, which I took in my mind to be the cut off time. My goal for this race was to finish happy, unhurt, not last, and before 12:30pm, since this was my first trail race and the longest distance I've run on trails.
So 8:30 am rolls around and we start. I make sure to get myself near the back of the pack to keep from starting out too fast, which I always do. The first loop was all about checking out the course, and I also made an effort to keep up with this one runner. The first 10k loop I completed in 1:09 which I was very happy with but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up.
The second loop, my energy was low. At some point I heard someone yell "now that's what I'm talking about!" on a parallel trail, I turned to look and sure enough, I hit a root and wiped out. 2 minutes later I do it again. I just wasn’t paying attention and not lifting my feet up because I was feeling a bit tired. I laugh at myself and try to shake it off and keep going. Some of the runner's that started at 8am were beginning to pass me. It was nice to say hello to others and saw a few people I knew. Later on I pass someone and shortly after my toe hits the end of a skinny root and I do a face plant. I was seriously dirty at this point.
Some memorable parts of the loop: dirty runner’s pain – a hill about 7K in and 1/2 a K long which seemed never ending the first time it came around; pig tail’s a flying – a twisty, downhill, fun section; and my favourite: beer gut boy’s a singin’ – near the end of the loop, fast and downhill and brings you to the start/finish.
3rd loop I was a bit more cautious because of the wipe-outs and was still feeling a bit tired. Passed a couple of people but was still being passed by a lot of the 24 hour folks (I am in awe!). I caught up to a group of them again (some of the regulars) and they moved to let me pass but I said I wasn’t in a hurry and decided to hang behind them for a bit. My strategy for the 3rd loop was to walk all the hills, run the flats easy and give’r down the hills. I looked at my watch and it was 12:24. I said, oh crap I have 6 minutes to finish. Out of nowhere, a burst of energy came and I finished 34 seconds after 12:30, my finish time being 4:00:34. Got my dirty runner key chain, and a butter tart (mmm, my favourite) and chugged water.
After the race I cheered on the sidelines, had some food but as I was sitting there the mother’s guilt was setting in and I got ready to head on home.
This race was great preparation for Haliburton. And I’m looking forward to going back next year!
:clap:
