My first trail run! Heck, today was my first run of any kind since I blitzed my right calf about six weeks ago. And it was pain free. Happy Day.
The Seattle Running Club (of which I am a member) puts on a trail run race series on Cougar Mountain every year and today I volunteered to help out. Wince I was going out there anyway, and since my calf has been feeling better and better lately I figured why not try a short jog while I was there. So happy that worked out.
Not knowing how the runs would go and wanting to get in some activity I decided to ride to Cougar. Since it has been so much fun to ride lately, I opted to take my Kona Paddy Wagon. Lets just say that Cougar Mt Blvd is kind of steep when you can't shift. Anyway, I made it up okay, just had to get out of the saddle lots.
In the morning I helped out with parking and it was pretty fun! I got to wear an orange, safety t-shirt, it was totally balmy out and all the racers were very cordial as I helped them find parking spots.
Once parking was wrapped up and all the runners were under way I jogged to the last aid station. The route I took was about 2.5 miles and I just crossed my fingers and took off.
Man it was fun to be in the woods again! The trail was narrow, there was so much green and my calf felt fine. My lungs on the other hand did not feel so fine... Most of the run there was downhill but when I got an up I really had to slow down and almost ended up walking. Yikes.
I love helping out at aid stations. All the runners are psyched to see you and you get to encourage everyone. I was here with Jess Mullen and Betsy Rogers and these guys are full of stories so I just shut up and listened while handing out food and filling bottles.
We had been told that our aid station was at mile 17 or 18 so as runners left us we told them they had less than three miles to go. Unfortunately this was not correct.
ASIDE - if there is one thing I hate it's people that tell you the finish is "just around the corner" or that you only have "one mile to go". Any time you hear this kind of thing it's guaranteed to be wrong. How frustrating that I was one of those guys today. To all you racers that I told there were only 2.5 miles left, my sincerest apologies.
After we wrapped up the aid station I helped load the car with supplies so Jess and Betsy could drive it back and then started off jogging back myself. I figured I would just run the course this time for a bit of variety and hey, it was the same distance so no biggie.
Not so much.
At three miles I still wasn't even close to the finish. When I got to the last hill I knew I had at least half a mile left. In the end it was about 4.5 miles and the climb killed me. On the bright side, my calf held up beautifully.
The ride home was S L O W. Thank god it was mostly downhill. Even so it only took me just 10 minutes less than the ride out here!
I polished off the day by eating way too much. Then I spent even more time in the sun. I ended up cooked both mentally and physically.
| Sleep | 6 |
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| Workout Food | rides - water |
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| Weather | mid 80s, sunny, dry, calm |
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| Equipment | rides - Kona Paddy Wagon, Garmin Fenix 2 runs - Brooks Transcend, Garmin Fenix 2 |
| Clothing | runs - Injinji Run Original Weight Mini-Crew, Brooks 5" Essential Run Short |
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