Sometimes I really just have to make myself do things or they’ll never get done. I woke up this morning at 7:30 and looked outside to a grey and drizzly looking day and almost went back to bed. Instead I found my running clothes and got myself out the door and downtown to the Tortoise and Hare 10k. Not only was this (finally!) my first 10k after missing the first 2 I had planned, but this was also my very first trail race and I have to say that that aspect was greatly underestimated by myself.

Despite the dreary forecast there was a good turnout for the event and they ran out of official race number bibs as I was standing in line to register, so instead I got 1002 scrawled on my hand in sharpie (it’s just like a triathlon they joked) and a yellow piece of paper to give to them at the end if it didn’t disintegrate in the rain along the way. I made my way back to my car to stow some stuff and then a bathroom stop (no long lines, sweet!) and then headed over to the starting area to stretch out and warm up a little bit. I listened to people talk about the course and knew in the back of my head that the hardest part was going to be right at the beginning. The race description said that it was 400′ over about a half a mile but really the entire 2nd mile was pretty vertical with a couple of short flat stretches thrown in, all in all the climb over the race is closer to 600′ and that really made a difference.

The start of the race was somewhat comical, we all lined up on one side of the ballfields and the R.D. yelled “Ready, set, go!”; and we all raced off across the field only to reach the other side where the trail started and it was room for only one abreast and therefore the mass of us had to stop and walk for a minutes while we formed a single-file line. This first mile was by far the prettiest part of the whole race, we ran through a huge field full of purple and white flowers that were beautiful and fragrant and absolutely magical. Keep in mind that I hike around this park a lot and I saw things on this race that I hadn’t seen before which was really an awesome part of the experience and one of the reasons that I really enjoy running, it truly does open my eyes to things that I might not otherwise see. This part of the course was pretty flat and there was a group of us all moving at about the same pace, a few muddy spots, I quickly wound up with mud on my legs and wet shoes, but I figured at least I got that out of the way and I wouldn’t have to worry about avoiding mud puddles for the whole race. As we reached the exit of the trail we were on the first of the kids one mile fun run entrants raced past us on the way to their finish line, which threw me off a little, but I figured that we had had to slow down and walk or stop a couple times due to congestion, so that would account for some lost time there. Back across our starting line we went, over the bridge, through the parking lot and onto the service road is where the climb began.

I had decided before I was even sure that I was going to do this race that I was going to use a run/walk strategy. Just hiking up the trails from the lower to the upper falls can be tiring depending on the trail, and the race followed pretty much the steepest way up the hill that I knew of. Considering that my running and training has been spotty at best lately, attempting the 10k was going to be challenging enough, attempting to run the uphills I knew would be cause for defeat. There was a brief moment as I went through the parking lot that I thought maybe I should just go to my car and head home, maybe I shouldn’t be trying to run this race, in the back of my mind I was worried about finishing DFL and didn’t want that to happen, the part of my brain that said that DNF’ing was worse than DFL won out though and on I went. As I reached the trail that would take us to the top of the lower falls, I slowed to a walk and kept myself moving, concentrating on my breathing, making sure that I was pushing myself just the right amount. There was a girl about my age in front of me who had been moving at my pace and I pegged her as the one I wanted to finish ahead of, she was slowly jogging up the hill, but slowed to a walk as well when I passed her while I was walking. A woman in a yellow shirt was the next one ahead of me and I soon passed her too, she seemed to be having trouble catching her breath and kept stopping as a result. Ahead of me I could see another woman in a yellow shirt that I was hoping to pass, but I never did, from this point of the race I was pretty much on my own, which had its ups and downs.

I got passed by a couple of men during this stretch of the race and really didn’t know how many people were behind me except for the two women that I had passed. I tried to run the few all too brief flat stretches that were thrown into this climb, and shortened my stride and hiked up the steep parts, but it was definitely tougher than I had imagined and I knew that the time I had in the back of my mind to shoot for was pretty much out the window already. When I reached the first aid station I gladly took a cup of water, my throat was feeling very dry and I slowed down to drink that as well, as I couldn’t see anyone behind me or in front of me. As I crossed the street and headed onto the next trail I was only a minute or two down the trail when I saw the frontrunner coming blazing down the trail breathing hard with a look of determination on his face. To see someone on their way back to the bottom that soon into my race was a little disheartening, but at the same time, as more people started to pass me on their way back down their encouraging words to keep it up and good job really helped keep me going. The second guy to pass me was a few more minutes further into the trail and I knew there was no way that he was going to catch the first guy to pass me, but he still went by with that same blazed look of determination. As I continued to run by these racers (jumping to the side of the narrow trail to clear room for them) I realized that as tough as I was finding the race, I still was not pushing myself as hard as they were, not that I think I could have pushed myself that hard without keeling over, but still the sweat coming off of them, the gasping of their breath as they swooshed by, they were definitely going all out and racing whereas I was kind of just chugging along hoping to finish, a very different mentality and I liked the layout of this course for the opportunity it gave to show the experience of these runners to me.

Although the steepest part of the course was finished with, this next leg continued to roll up and down and had a lot of roots criss-crossing the ground to contend with, I ran most of it, slowing a couple times on some steeper uphills, but wanted to be running whenever anyone passed me so mostly kept my slow pace going. Eventually the trail split off to make a loop before it would rejoin at that spot for the return journey and so I stopped seeing the other racers at that point and was instead again on my own plodding along for better or for worse and I started to wonder where the hell the next aid station was going to be (at the end of mile 4) I could see and hear the people at the aid station long before I got there as I was up on trail along the ridge and had to come down and circle around a couple of roads before re-entering the park and gladly accepting a cup of Gatorade that I again slowed down to drink. At that point it had taken me about an hour to reach that point and I hadn’t seen anyone in a while, in front of or behind me, and I was jogging along rather complacently as if it was any other run really. I finished the loop and rejoined the main trail that we followed up and down and actually passed another runner still on his way up the trail I was happy to offer a smile and some words of encouragement and it was a nice feeling to be on the other side of that experience.

Around that point, I knew that the arches of my feet were developing blisters, my left foot especially was bothering me and I kept considering stopping to adjust my shoes, but not wanting to stop since I was so close to nearing the finish. I had finally decided to just deal with the problem already and was about to stop when I heard something behind me and turning my head back I saw the first girl that I had passed, the one that I had pegged as being my competition to beat to the finish. With her that close on my tail, suddenly I realized how complacent I had gotten in my solitude and how slow my pace had dropped to. I forgot about my feet and instead picked up the pace again staying just ahead of her. I was conscious of her presence, but didn’t want it to foul my game plan either so I still slowed to a walk on what was really the last of the steep climbs during the race, right about the 5 mile point and I was glad that she slowed there as well, finally breaking the silence with “All downhill from here, my butt.” I laughed and agreed with her and on we went, myself a little bit ahead of her so that I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was there. As I grabbed another cup of Gatorade at the last aid station with just under a mile and a half to go she stayed just behind me and asked what time it was that we were running. I told her it was an hour and half on the dot, at this point she picked up her pace a little bit and slowly passed me. I held off the urge to fight her for the lead, as I could hear that even as we were essentially on a downhill for the rest of the race, she was breathing much harder than I was and I was pretty sure that on the flat homestretch of about half a mile at the bottom I would be able to take her as long as I didn’t let her get too far ahead of me. We exchanged a few more words back and forth, this was her first trail race as well, she didn’t think she was going to be doing another one. Despite the fact that my pace was ridiculously slow and the race was much tougher than anticipated, I knew that I would be doing more in the future, I was having fun. I saw her slow down on a slick spot in front of me and I went to slow as well, but it was too late, I went down scraping up my hand a little, but nothing bad. To her credit she stopped and turned around to ask if I was okay instead of speeding off, I said I was fine as I picked myself up and we continued on with her still just a bit ahead of myself.

Going into the race I knew the uphill was going to be tough, but I also knew that the downhill was going to be tough because it was very steep and wet and slippery from the rain as well. Anticipating that I had thought about how to run downhill and had read up on others thoughts and experiences as well on KR the day before. As we headed into the steepest part of the course the girl in front of me slowed a little, not wanting to fall, and that is when I passed her again for the final time. I picked up my pace, quickened my turnover and leaned into the hill and went all out.  She was quickly left far behind me as I charged out of the trail onto the access road, back across the parking lot, the bridge and across the finish line at the playground for a final time of 1 hour 40 minutes.  I certainly hadn’t made my goal time but I wasn’t DFL, I had beat the person I had picked out to beat, and I had completed a 7 mile run and learned a lot along the way.  A successful day to be sure and it wasn’t even 11 in the morning yet.