Seattle Triathlon TEAM

This was my first trail run in quite a while, as I’ve been healing up my pesky achilles tendinosis since November….I was feeling great and ready to run.  Lord Hill, in Snohomish, I discovered, is nicknamed “Lord, that’s not a hill, that’s a mountain!”.  And it was true.  As usual, I volunteered at registration for NW Trail Runs which is always fun, and a great way to get to know all of the other runners out there on the trail.  It had rained for days before the event, but luckily it didn’t rain on the morning it was held.  There was a 10k course and a 1/2 marathon.  Having recently completed a 1/2 marathon, I opted for the 10k, knowing it would be tough!

Just over 100 runners started the race, 62 doing the 10k, the rest doing the 1/2.  It was muddy from the get-go, and hilly from about 1/4 mile from the start…..I was wondering how they found a course that was entirely uphill….was it possible to just keep going and going and going up up up??  Seems it was.  At one point we had to jump a creek using a hay bale to assist, and there was just so much mud.  Which was fun, but requiired a lot of energy expenditure!  At the halfway point, there was a water stop, and I stopped and drank and caught my breath for a minute, as it was nearly all uphill to that point.  After that, there was some downhill, but then the course turned, and back uphill it went again!  I nearly missed the directional flags at one point (many, many runners did, and ran a lot of extra miles as a result)....this turn took me across a field on a very narrow path, and then up a super steep hill that was so muddy my feet kept sliding out from under me unless I walked it.  It was a lovely place to run, lots of beautiful old trees, nicely kept paths, and mud.  Did I mention the mud?  It was fun, though, as trail runs always are to me.

Finally there was a wide fire road that I knew lead downhill (yay!) to the finish…..so I kicked it in.  My final time was 1:06 for the 10k, putting me in 9th place overall, and third place in women’s.  I know that if people had managed to follow the course accurately I wouldn’t have placed quite as high, but I think I did a pretty darn good job of holding my own out there.  According to the Garmin, there was approximately 1700 feet of elevation gain in the 10k.  Which is a lot!  (And yes, my calves and quads were quite sore the next couple of days.)

Trail running is such a different creature from road running.  It forces a higher level of concentration on where your feet are, and uses a lot more muscles to balance while you are navigating curves, rocks, roots, mud and hills.  I love being out in nature and always appreciate the beauty of this area we are lucky to live in.  As always, I want to learn more about how to improve my trail running—like how to run downhill without falling on my face or spraining an ankle, as I did in 2008.  Luckily our LUNA Chix team is hosting a Trail Running Clinic on Tuesday, June 15 at Bridle Trails.  It costs only $15 and you will learn from a pro how to better your trail technique.  We are so happy to have received a couple of free entries to future NW Trail Runs races and some others for a BEAST adventure race and a trail race as well, from 4th Dimension Racing, to be given away via a drawing of attendees.  4th Dimension is putting on a Solstice Run the day after the trail run clinic—check it out here  There are so many fun trail run series around this summer, why not learn a bit and try something new, or improve your trail skills?  It is a great way to cross train, or to work on skills that might be useful in XTERRA racing.  There are also a couple more trail runs that the LUNA Chix Seattle Triathlon Team is hosting this summer.  On June 22 at Cougar Mountainand August 24 at St. Edwards State Park.  Both are free and start at 6:15 PM.  Hope to see you there!