My first trail race. Where to begin?
Well, this is probably one of the biggest and best organized trail races in Canada. This was the 15th anniversary for it. Started by a couple 15 years ago - Peggy and George - and they have built it up to a premier event which sells out every year. That number was 1,220 - included the 50k run, 25k run (my event), the 50 relay and then 12.5 and 25k for walkers as well.
I was incredibly unprepared for it! I mean, I'm obviously fit, but I honestly never imagined trail running to be like this. I did not expect it to be SO different from road racing. But more on that in a bit.
Cambridge is about a 5 hour drive from my home. Of course, major traffic on Friday going down and with stops along the way - it took closer to 7 hours to get to my hotel. I decided to go a bit lighter on the beer and pasta that night! Not easy, by the way, as I watched the Toronto Blue Jays blow the ball game late (again!).
Anyway, it rained all night. Pretty hard at times. So, I knew the trails would be slick. And they were. I decided to run in the shoes of which I had cut out an opening for my left big toe - the one that always blisters. Not trail shoes - I'll have to buy a pair for my next race.
The event was a 20 minute drive from my hotel, and I got there in lots of time to pick up my number and kit. EVERYONE was fabulous - friendly, engaged, helpful - the volunteers here were top notch. The race headquarters was in "Tent City" - a huge tent which hosted the registration, expo, stage and dinner afterwards.
So, the opening ceremonies were interesting - a marching military band played their way to the starting line. Raising of Canadian and American flags. National Anthems. Amazing Grace. A few short speaches. Moment of silence. And with a cannon blast, the 50k runners were off as the band played on. All very dramatic.
So, that was 9:30 on the nose. My race started 10 minutes later. Just under 600 of us lined up. I positioned myself about 30 runners back and kept repeating the mantra: go out easy, go out easy, go out easy! The cannon blasted. We were off. The band played on. And ... I actually went out easy!
For me, this was 2 laps of a 12.5 km course. I figured I'd run it at marathon pace - around 7:50 - for the 1st lap, and then pick it up on the second lap. In truth, I figured coming in under 2 hours would be easy for me. Oh, I was SO naive! It only took about 1 mile of running to realize just how naive.
SO different from road racing. I mean, dirt path and close to trees are nice. But the constant up and down, coupled with the uneven surface and sharp turns, means there was just no way to get into an even rhythm. There was one section on a road - maybe a half mile - and here I could get into a rhythm and keep my pace. But beyond that, forget it. I had read to go easy on the uphills and attack the downhills. I tried. I failed. And I'm pretty good at aggressive downhill running on the roads. Here, it was all I could do to keep myself falling flat on my face. Almost did a couple of times as my foot slipped out. My legs really took a beating on those downhills.
I watched some of the faster relay runners - they seemed to be able to move with ease over the terrain. I think it's a matter of training on these types of trails. I had thought my running on the local snowmobile trail was effective. Hah! Not even close. I'll have to do my training for my next trail race on the local x-country ski trails. That would be the closest terrain to this.
My left foot turned over on a root or something on my second lap. It took a few strides to figure out if I was done or not, but I worked it out and kept going. That foot swelled up on the drive home and I had to drive without a shoe to relieve the pressure.
Beyond that, I finished the race relatively unscathed. My pace ended up being 8:30/mile - about 45 seconds/mile slower than I had 'conservatively' figured. Humbling. My quarter splits (6.25km) were: 31:53 32:34 34:24 and 33:08. The slowing pace as I went had less to do with being tired, and more to do with being careful. And reasonable.
This is now almost 48 hours since the race. My left foot is still a bit stiff, but not as bad as I feared it might be. My shins seem to be the worst off. That's new for me, as they are never an issue on the roads. I'm guessing that's from the downhills. My quads too are feeling it. But overall, all is good. Feeling worse than I do after a road Half, but not as bad as after a Marathon.
I'm going to take another day or so off from running, and then get back into it - want to go easy and keep my base for the next couple of months before I start gearing up for Boston. I have a couple of 10 k events I might do in that time: Hamilton in early November, and Detroit's Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.
As far as future trail runs: I have my eye on another 25K next Spring, about 8 weeks after the Boston Marathon, but that as a prelude to my 1st Ultra - which will be the 50K Run for the Toad one year from now. Four loops of the race I just finished.
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