Good running fun...

I'm skipping over Thursday's run (treadmill...boring...stats below) and skipping straight to today, September 1...much more exciting.  Today was the Labor Day 10K at Naval Support Activity Annapolis, which Brie and I have planned to run for the past few weeks.  We added to the pleasure with a third runner - a midshipman - who has a lot of enthusiasm and is breaking into more of the longer distance running.

So how did Caroline join the intrepid duo?  I work with Caroline in the age 3-6 Sunday School class at the Naval Academy Chapel.  She has been forced to listen to my race recaps for the past year and last week she indicated she was interested in trying out the longer distance (greater than 5k) running.  Perfect opportunity...come run the Labor Day 10K on the Navy base with Brie and I.  She was in.

So we get to race morning, and par for the course, not everything has gone by the books during the morning, but we're all there before the start of the race.  So, bonus.  Oh yeah, us and the other 13 runners for the race.  Yep, 16 total.  Guess what?  Our chances of winning something increase exponentially.  Woohoo!

Downside to a small race field?  Everyone goes out uber fast.  When  the start was given, we al went out at about a 7 minute/mile pace...uh, not happening for long folks.  We pulled back to about a 8:30ish pace.  Now, on the way over, Caroline indicated she wanted to try to keep up with us during the race as long as possible.  I told her she could probably run much faster than our 8:30 - 9:15 pace.  She wasn't so sure.  Kudos to her for keeping up the whole time.  And for listening to our weekly dish the dirt session.  She may never join us again after that :)  But we hope she will.

Anyway, the course wound up through the golf course, up Providence just a bit and then turned around so we could head back and catch the trail around Greenbury Point.  When we hit the 4 mile mark it became very clear that the race was going to be short of 10k, but who cares, we were having fun.  Ultimately we finished 7, 8 and 9 overall.  First in age 35-39, first in age 30-34 and first in 20-24.  How about them apples :)  So we did't actually win any real prizes (the MWR races are so small they only give first place overall male and female) but we can pretend we rocked it.  And of course, we also didn't walk away with any random prizes either.  Maybe next time.  It was fun regardless and Brie and I were able to share our love of running with a new person.

Now on to rest up a bit for tomorrow's Charm City Run 20-miler with Lara.  It promises to be cooler and the course is a slight downgrade, so I feel pretty good about it.  Happy trails!!!

Stats (for Thursday)
Miles:  4.01
Time:  35:37 (average pace of 8:53 per mile)
Location:  Fitness Center at Naval Support Activity Annapolis
Feeling:  Hamstrings are still tight, trying to make them last

Stats (for Saturday)
Miles:  4.83
Time:   41:30 (average pace of 8:35 per mile)
Location:  Greenbury Point
Feeling:  tight in the hamstrings, just need to hold them together through Sunday

Holy hills batman...

I've once again been remiss at logging my runs as they happen, so today is another "two run" post.  I'm going to go backwards because today's run is much more exciting than Thursday's treadmill effort.

Today I took a second shot at the River Valley Run 10k trail race, which was a beast last year.  I say its a beast in a good way, meaning it challenges you to pull out more than you think you have to get it done.  It's got hills.  I don't mean it's got hills, I mean it's got HILLS.  It also has a little of everything else you would want in a trail run - water, rocks, tree jumps, etc.   What made the race even better than last year was my enhanced cheering section.  Last year Jay was deployed, and we didn't even know the diva was out there.  So it was great to have them both there.

Now we get to the start of this run.  Well let me tell you, just reading the course map won't prepare you for the hills in the first 3.5 miles of the course - ending with what they aptly called "Dead Man's Hill."  It doesn't take long to get to that first hill and then they just keep coming. We all know the saying "what goes up must come down"? The race directors for this run managed to defy even Newton...I believe there is a lot more uphill than downhill to this race.

Following the hills, there are a lot of other fun aspects to this course. From the rock scramble (which was faster than last year because I decided to take the route marked "slower" which had no line, while the route marked "faster & trickier" had a long line...figure that one out..the people on the slow route all passed those on the fast route), to the river crossing that was a little deeper than last year because of all the rain.

I was sadly disappointed, however, in the lack of enthusiasm shown by many at the river crossing. Here's my philosophy on trail running - you didn't sign up to go home clean and dry. I take every opportunity to make sure I have to scrape off layers of sweat and dirt, but many of my fellow racers are afraid of a little water. There were two options at the river crossing - you could go out of your way to cross on a bridge or you could plunge in and run. So (a) we've got the wimps who took the bridge...come on, are you kidding me? Then (b) you've got those runners who decided to brave the water but were so afraid of getting too wet that they basically walk through the water slowly so as not to splash.

This is where I come in. I'm sure I got several dirty looks from behind, but I aim to ensure everyone close to me gets a real trail experience. So, as I enter the water there are several of the version (b) runners in front of me. I devilishy grin to myself and run through the water at top speed splashing EVERYWHERE and EVERYONE within a 10 foot radius. Dude, you got what you deserved by not respecting the water enough to have fun with it :) 

I finally cruised into the finish line, knocking several minutes off last year's time.  Even though I finished faster, and consequently 13th out of 96 women in the 30-39 age bracket, I managed this race poorly.  I had way too much gas left in the engines at the end and could easily have taken a few more minutes off the time if I had turned it on more out on the course instead of waiting until the final two miles.  That's okay, better next year right? I still had the best cheering section in the house.

Now that I've had fun with today's run, I really won't bore you with the details of a short, 3ish mile treadmill run on Thursday, except for a couple interesting details.  So we had a family social down at Jay's base scheduled for the early evening.  With that, I decided to go early so Jay could watch the diva while I logged a few miles at the gym in their building.  It's not a bad little facility, even though they cater mostly to men and so the women's locker room is a little small.  Its the locker room that actually makes this effort slightly interesting.  Since we were headed to an event immediately following my run, I needed to shower so I didn't turn off all the other families in the command.  But of course, this isn't my usual locker room at the Senate or at 24 Hour Fitness.  No, you need to bring your own towel for this one.  Oops.  Yeppers, I had to dry off with my shorts and paper towels from the sink area.  I'll remember that for next time.  Happy trails!!!

Stats for Thursday -
Miles:  3.01
Time:  25:00 (average pace of 8:18 per mile)
Location:  EWS Gym, Marine Corps Base Quantico
Feeling:  Good, muscles were moving easily

Stats for Today -
Miles:  6.3
Time:  59:18 (average pace of 9:24 per mile...need more hill and trail training b/c I can do better)
Location:  River Valley Ranch, Roller, MD
Feeling:  Hams got tight at mile 3, but overall I could have pushed it much harder

Hells bells those are hills....

A little more than a week ago, my friend Sophia said to me "hey I signed up for another trail 10k, you should do it. I don't know where it is but I'll send you the link." Me: "Sounds great, I'd love to do it and I get back home Friday night, so it's perfect."

Sophia knows I'm a sucker for any race, especially trail runs, so of course I followed the link she sent me a couple hours later and registered for the event without really paying attention to where it was or what the course was. Sometimes you just suck those things up in order to put together two of my favorites things - my friends and running.

Only after registering for the race, I decide to read into the organization and the run itself...oh yeah, and discover that the race is up near the Pennsylvania border about 75 minutes away. But I digress, let me first tell you about the organization.

I have to tell you, once I started reading about River Valley Ranch, not only did I wish they held adult summer camps, I was thrilled to be participating in a fundraiser for them. River Valley Ranch describes itself in the following way: "Started in 1952 as a cowboy summer camp for youth, River Valley Ranch in Carroll County, Maryland now serves over 20,000 youth and adults annually as a summer youth camp, retreat facility, outdoor education center, and a destination for exciting seasonal events in a distinctly Christian and wholesome family atmosphere. River Valley Ranch is a non-profit ministry, a part of the Peter & John Radio Fellowship, Inc., a registered 501 (c)3 non-profit religious organization." The race was to raise money to provide scholarships for disadvantaged children to the summer camps. How cool is that!?!? They also take donations to support scholarships for military children. Check them out at www.rivervalleyranch.com.

Okay, so now we know that this is a good cause. Next we read about the course, which sounds right up my alley all the way down to the river crossing. I'm a sucker for a race that looks like it challenges runners. This one had everything, water, hills, rocks and a gazillion water stops which meant I wouldn't have to carry my camelbak.

Well let me tell you, just reading the course map won't prepare you for the hills in the first 3.5 miles of the course - ending with what they aptly called "Dead Man's Hill." Suffice it to say my calves were sore by Monday. It didn't take long to get to that first hill and then they just kept coming. We all know the saying "what goes up must come down"? The race directors for this run managed to defy even Newton...I truly believe there was a lot more uphill than downhill to this race.

If you survived the hills, which I obviously did, there were a lot of other fun aspects to this course. From the rock scramble (which took me several minutes to get through not because I was slow but because I had to stand in line and wait my turn to go through them), to the straight down plummet that took out more than one runner, it was great fun.

I was sadly disappointed, however, in the lack of enthusiasm shown by many at the river crossing. Here's my philosophy on trail running - you didn't sign up to go home clean and dry. I take every opportunity to make sure I have to scrape off layers of sweat and dirt, but apparently some of my fellow racers are afraid of a little water. There were two options at the river crossing - you could go out of your way to cross on a bridge or you could plunge in and run in water no deeper than your knees. So (a) we've got the wimps who took the bridge...come on, are you kidding me? Then (b) you've got those runners who decided to brave the water but were so afraid of getting too wet that they basically walk through the water slowly so as not to splash.

This is where I come in. I'm sure I got several dirty looks from behind, but I aim to ensure everyone close to me gets a real trail experience. So, as I enter the water there are several of the version (b) runners in front of me. I devilishy grin to myself and run through the water at top speed splashing EVERYWHERE and EVERYONE within a 10 foot radius. Dude, you got what you deserved by not respecting the water enough to have fun with it :)

I finally cruised into the finish line just over an hour after the start. My last two miles were my fastest (easy because there were no death defying hills to climb) and joined Sophia at the finish line. I can tell you honestly, I would do this one again though I think I need to get in a few more bridge runs first.

What's the best part? I opened my email today to the following email from Sophia:

no more crazy 10k's with stacie!!! i'm pretty sure i have plantar fasciitis. hurts to just stand up! :(

- the sign of a truly good trail run.

Bring it!