Rock Bridge Revenge 7 mile trail race

My Race Report

James was out of town so I had to get Allia up and ready to go. We were scheduled to leave at 6:30 sharp and we did. (I am bragging cause if you have a 3 year old you understand that this is an accomplishment.) We swung by Julia’s and dropped the girl off, then headed out to the park to pick up our packets and run a little warm up. At the park we found that there was not a huge crowd so parking was easy and packet pick up took about one minute. We had an hour to kill before the race started, but that was okay because it was a beautiful fall morning and we had a bunch of friendly runners to chat with.

We started promptly at 8 with a loop through the parking lot before heading into the woods. I hung back knowing I would not be one of the fast runners. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was at about halfway back in the pack. I thought I was farther back then that, but it worked out well because once we were on the single trail everyone hit a comfortable pace and I did not have to pass anyone hardly (or get passed).

It always boggles mind to run at Rock Bridge on trails that I usually bike. I have run there a few times before but I have biked out there hundreds, maybe thousands of times. I kept thinking how the rocky downhill sections would be so much easier (and more fun) if I was just gliding down them on my mountain bike.

Once we were settled into the woods, I put my MP3 player on and enjoyed the extra pep my music gave me and the fact that I could no longer hear my huffy-puffy breathing. I started to get into a groove and was really enjoying the undulating ups and downs of the run. No big killer hills, just short ups and downs that I could power up before I maxed out my heart rate. After we finished the first couple of miles, the trail gets level out by the creek and I relaxed a little because there are fewer rocks to deal with. Evidently, I relaxed a little too much and all of a sudden caught the bottom of my shoe on a root, SMACK….I hit the ground HARD. I laid there for a second stunned by how bad it felt and how fast it happened. I then thought I should get going again because there were two girls not far behind me but I just had to move slow and shake it off for a bit. I got up and started walking and that is when the 2 girls passed me. I didn’t really care at that point because I was still looking for the drive to get moving again. Seems like ever since I broke my foot, I don’t bounce back from a wreck, instead it sort of hurts my feelings and I get too upset. I am just not as tough as I used to be. After a little walking I started to slowly jog and in no time I was back to running and quit fussing over my bruised, throbbing palm and scraped up knee.

Now the girls who I knew were not faster than me were in front of me and I wanted to catch up. When we got the creek crossing everyone slowed down to access the situation so I caught up then. We tried to pick our way through the water so as not get our feet soaking wet. We still had over 3 miles to run and I really hate running in wet socks. The girl in front of me stepped on a slippery wet log and fell into the water. I felt so bad for her. I noted where not to step while she collected herself and got going again. I didn’t pass her…that would just be mean. I did plant one shoe in the water so now I was running with a wet right foot and a dry left foot. My new, gold shoes were not going to sparkle any more after this race!

At mile 4 I was feeling great; warmed up, over my fall and not tired yet. I was feeling more comfortable about my footing having not trained at trail running this year at all. And every time I checked my pace it said 9:12 or 9:32.......I am very happy with that for a trail running pace. I guess I was always on a flat area when I looked so that was probably some of my faster sections. I did walk up two hills. First one so I did not pass the girl who fell in the creek. (I won’t lie to you…..I wanted to walk it cause it was steep…I used her as an excuse.)

Running down Sink Hole was the pits. This trail is an old road and it has huge gravel or tons of small rocks, not sure which, all over it. It is just brutal on your feet and me with my bad feet it is even worse. By the time I go to the bottom, my toes hurt so bad they were numb…..a sensation similar to frostbite. Also, since it was down hill, I kept trying to let my momentum take me down and not “fight” the landings. This almost caused me to fall a couple of more times but I was lucky enough to catch myself each time.

I also walked up Billy Goat Hill. By the time I got there it was about the 6 mile marker and I was running out of steam. I struck a deal with myself…….I would walk Billy Goat, but then I would have to run the last hill up to the parking lot, which is a longer hill but not as steep. I figure it was a good trade off.

As I neared the finish line I tried to look happy, energetic and most importantly fast. I must not have done a very good job because the first thing Uwe said to me was “you look tired”. I think mostly my face was registering pain, from my feet. After Sink Hole, my feet were done so that last mile was just a painfest.

Overall though, I was happy with my time of 1 hour and 8 minutes.

Results are here: http://ctc.coin.org/results/rockbridge/RBR10.HTM.

But most importantly I really enjoyed the race. It kind of revived me and I am considering doing some more races. No matter how hard you train, there is no better motivation than a race looming in your future to get you up and going and working harder. I keep thinking I would like to see how much I could improve if I REALY put an effort into it. Next year I should break the 1 hour barrier!