That funk with my running has continued to stretch on. I'm still loving my runs and grateful to be out there, but my speed has yet to return. At this point I'm beginning to think it may not. I've had blood work done and everything came back normal. I wish I had an explanation, but I don't. It just is what it is. As I struggled with comparing times from the past to current times, I fell madly in love with trail running. I've always loved running trails, I averaged a trail run around once a week or once every other week, but road racing was my true love. Now that my speed just isn't there, I've found freedom in trail running because there's just no comparing from run to run. Every trail is different and even the same trail is different from day to day depending on weather conditions. It has helped me stop looking back at where I was and just appreciate the now. There's also something so joyful about running through the woods, hopping over fallen trees, weaving around large rocks, and discovering wild animals. This fall when I decided not to go to Boston, my heart wasn't in racing at all. I didn't even want to run the Tulsa Run 15k which broke my streak of running the race and earning a 60/70 mug, I even ran it
last year when it went virtual because I wanted to keep the streak alive. Then trail races started popping up and I got super excited for them. I'm not doing speed work or anything, I'm just doing my typical training and starting to build my base back up, getting my weekly mileage back up to 40-45 miles per week.
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| With my friend, April, who ran the 5k. |
The Backyard Bonanza popped up on my Facebook feed and I got super excited because I love running at Turkey Mountain and it's only about 7 minutes from my house. The race options were 5k, 12.5k, and 25k. I didn't think I'd be in 25k shape yet so I signed up for the 12.5k. I ended up running a 12 mile trail run at Turkey Mountain a few weeks before the race, so I think I could have done the 25k. After I signed up for this race, I signed up for the Flint & Steel Trail Race in December with friends I run with. I was torn on whether to sign up for the 10k or 25k. I felt like the course record for the 25k was definitely in reach for me so I went for the 25k. With that coming up I decided to get a long warm up and cool down along with this race to build my long run up a bit more. I ran around 2.5 miles for my warm up before the race. The weather was absolutely perfect. I was wearing a spandex long sleeved top, my racing singlet, shorts, gloves, and a headband. It was a little chilly during my warm up, but perfect during the race. I ended up running the last 1.25 miles of the course backward back up the trail and then turning around and going back to the start area. I was pleased to see there were no uphills in the last mile of the race. There was a nice, long downhill, but it was super rocky so I knew there wouldn't really be much kicking it in because the footing would be a bit tricky and I'd have to watch my step.
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| A picture from that portion of the race, gives you a bit of an idea of what the trail was like. |
At the start line I saw a friend I ran with a lot when I ran with the Tuesday evening running group at Turkey. He took off fast with a kid. Then there was another guy a ways back from them and then me. So pretty much right off the start I was running alone. It felt like one of my long runs at Turkey but with a marked course so I didn't have to pay attention to where I was going or plan out which trails to take to get my desired distance which I appreciated. We had some decent inclines in the first mile of the race which I was surprised I went through in 8:58. Usually I only dip under 9:00 pace at Turkey on the flatter sections of the trails. During the 2nd mile we went through an aid station (I carried a water bottle in the pocket of my shorts so I wouldn't have to stop since the race was cupless) and then crossed over to the trails on the other side of the top parking lot. I recognized that we were running the yellow trail backward. Mile 2 was 9:10 and mile 3 was 9:00. During one of the early miles there was a fallen tree laying across the trail and I smiled when I saw it. I love getting to hurdle logs and fallen trees when I'm running trails. There's just something really satisfying about it. There were a few times when the course came out into a field or there was a longer stretch without a turn where I could see the guy in front of me. He never seemed to pull further ahead and was just maintaining his lead.
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| Off at the start, we crossed a bridge and then headed up into the woods. |
I went through mile 4 in 8:54 and decided it was time to start picking up the pace. I always like to run the first half of a trail race a bit conservatively because you never know what might be coming in the 2nd half. From what I'd seen during my warm up I knew the end of the race wasn't going to include any big hills and from the course map I was pretty sure the back half of the race was going to be not that hilly as far as Turkey is concerned. Mile 4 had about 200 feet of elevation gain and miles 1-3 were all around 100 feet of elevation gain and I was pretty sure that was going to be the hillier part of the race. I was correct! We came out into some flatter trails with mostly roots and not a bunch of rocks so I was able to really open up. We had a lot of weaving in that section which made it hard to get up to speed but I still went through mile 5 in 8:14. We came out of the woods and ran across the parking lot. Going through there with the sun coming down on us, I wished I could take my long sleeve off because I got hot! But other than that I was dressed perfectly, although I did take my gloves off at some point. I don't remember when. I got to hurdle another fallen tree which I loved. Mile 6 was pretty rocky and I went through it in 8:40. We hit an aid station before the last mile and the guy in front of me had stopped to get a drink. When I caught up to him at the aid station, he took off sprinting and really quickly pulled away to about the same lead he had before. I was glad to see him for a bit though because at one point I had people running toward me on the trail who I figured were 5k runners but according to the course maps I looked at, that shouldn't be happening. That made me a little nervous I was off trail, but seeing him comforted me. I found out after the race that the 5k runners had taken a wrong turn and shouldn't have been coming toward me on that trail. The course was really well marked and easy to follow so I was a bit surprised anyone missed a turn.
Mile 7 was back to super runnable trails and I went through it in 8:15. I was really excited to see those splits because I knew this was going to be my fastest run I'd done at Turkey Mountain. I ran my first ever trail race at Turkey back in 2016 at
Escape from Turkey Mountain and averaged just under 9:00 pace. I've definitely come a long way as a trail runner since then! I fell hard on a trail that was a bit more technical and rocky during that race. This race had trails that were more technical than that race and I never even came close to falling. I know part of it is confidence level, but I know I've also built strength in my ankles and the muscles that run up my legs because I used to get sore in those places after trail runs and now I feel the same after a trail run as I would running on pavement. There was a long downhill stretch toward the finish area and there were some people there cheering for one of the guys finishing ahead of me. Then they saw me coming and started cheering for me. I smiled so big and it was fun to see some people! There was an abrupt right turn through the trees and then we came out in the grass and ran through the grass and then turned and went a bit longer to the finish line. I was able to really kick it up a notch as I came toward the finish line. I was smiling so big and had such a blast! My friend, April, ran the 5k and was at the finish cheering for me. I ran the last half-mile in 8:01 pace. My finishing time for the 7.5 mile race was 1:05:13, an average pace of 8:42 which is by far the fastest I've ever run at Turkey! I was really excited to be significantly under 9:00 pace on those trails!
I was 4th overall and 1st female. I took off for a cool down and ran around 2.5 miles to finish off at 40 miles for the week. I ended up with almost 13 miles for the day. It was a great way to start the day! It was perfect that it was a Sunday morning race with Daylight Savings so the race started at 7:30 but was really like starting at 8:30 so when I got up at 6:00 it was really like sleeping in until 7:00! Then I was home with plenty of time to hang out with the kids! I'm excited about the races I have coming up, Flint and Steel 25k Trail Race in December, and Greenleaf 8 Mile Trail Run in January.
