I honestly didn't think I'd DNF today. Not mad about it though, because it was still an awesome day, moving out in the beauty of the woods. Strangely, I slept great last night, which never happens the night before a long run or a race. Woke up before my alarm super refreshed and had a relaxed morning. I had laid out and packed all of my stuff the night before. So all that was left to do was to take some stuff out of the fridge, throw it in a cooler and meet up with Aaron and Annie over at CP. Aaron had offered to drive us to the race, so we decided to take him up on the ride- masks on in the car. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and the parking lot was mostly empty. That was clue #1 that maybe the trail conditions would be hairy. I'm pretty sure many of the local folks opted out of coming after that last dumping of snow 2-3 days before the race. Still, it was a lot of fun and the race directors were super friendly and we met and chatted with a couple of folks. My favorite non-alcoholic beer brand, Athletic Brewing Company was there giving out samples. Looking forward to trying the coffee stout that I picked up.
Thank you, Anthony C. for the fun pre-race shot. He rocked the 12 miler.
I felt great at the start. My pre-race meal the night before and breakfast both treated me very well. Stomach was feeling good, legs good, super excited to get going. The weather couldn't have been better. About 20F at the start, very still and sunny. The first 2 miles were great. It was a little bit of deep snow, but mostly packed down single track. Stream crossings were pretty challenging. Thankful that I didn't end up getting wet feet.
We had to wait for a bit so that this runner could get across the stream.
I did end up completely missing a turn, but we figured out pretty quickly that we were off course. We backtracked and quickly found the turn we'd missed. Unfortunately, miles 2-5 were pretty unrunnable. With ankle-deep snow, I was slipping and sliding with every step. My ankles were feeling it and I was worried I'd twist something if I tried to run, so after awhile, I just accepted that it would be a hike instead and didn't worry about running. When I got to the end of the first loop, I decided to pull the plug. One loop was plenty. I got quite the workout just hiking in deep snow.
Post-race, Aaron and I had time to get changed out of wet clothes (thankful there was an actual bathroom there and not just a porta-potty!), set up our chairs and relax while waiting for Annie to come in. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting out in the sunshine, sipping on my recovery smoothie and chatting with another runner who had passed me on the last straightaway. He told us about the Long Trail in the Palisades that goes all the way up to Lake Placid. I'll definitely have to check that out one day.
Annie finished all smiles! So proud of her. Today's run was her longest run to date. She ended up taking a wrong turn so added about a mile to her race. She never got discouraged though. Had a blast and enjoyed the beautiful course.
Woohoo! Annie did an amazing job! Super impressed.
Of course, I got home and was immediately right back into the mix- my kids were invited sledding, so I walked in the door, dropped my stuff somewhat out of the way, gathered the kids and took them to a fun local sledding hill. Since I was already dressed for running, I decided to run loops around the neighborhood where they were sledding, coming back every loop to check on them. It was nice to add on some miles to at least make it a double digit run day.
All in all, an awesome day. I love trying new things and this was a new thing. It's also nice to get that first DNF out of the way. I'm sure it won't be my last. It was a first for Aaron too, although, he's still coming off of an injury. I could've gone out there and done another loop, but I don't regret not getting out there. I really enjoyed the post race camaraderie. Trail runners are just generally the nicest people. I also loved being in a race environment again. It was a tiny race, but still great to see people trying their best and cheering on those runners who passed us. Hoping to get out to more races in the spring.
All smiles before the first stream crossing, totally ignorant to how tricky the footing would get in the later miles
Fun race swag. Thank you Valley Trail Series!
Comments