Love the wood engraved medals and the beer was amazing!
The hardest part of this race was the ankle breaking rocks on the trail. Most of the route was baked potato sized rocks that rolled like crazy. It made it difficult, and impossible in some spots, to run at all. The only rock free portion of the route was the decent that went on forever. My quads were burning for sure at the bottom, but it was a much welcome change from the crazy a$$ hill that started the race! Nothing like a never ending downhill to make you thankful for a crazy a$$ hill back up to the finish!
This is what the view looked like for most of the run.
My quads feel like jello today, and my knees are pretty sore. I worked on them last night with the roller stick, nice and easy, and while it hurt it felt good at the same time. Not running today, but will take Sky for a walk at the park to get the blood flowing again, and drinking lots of water!
I had an absolute blast running this race! There is a stark beauty in the barren landscape, and the race is small. Less than 40 runners for the 10K. There were two start times and only about 25 people started in my heat. The race organizers did a really good job of making the runners feel special, and like we were getting personal attention from them.
The best part was after I started Mark said Sky took off running and made it to the first aid station (which was visible from the start line) and they gave her water and treats before she headed back to the start/finish line. They then let her hand out the medals to the finishers. One of the benefits of running a small event the organizers are able to let the tots be involved like that!
I tell you there was nothing better than cresting the hill to the finish and seeing my baby standing at the finish with a medal for me. I know I crossed that finish line with the biggest smile ever!
Despite having fun, enjoying the race and loving the views I won't be doing this one again. The biggest reason is my heart loves running through trees and seeing green when I'm trail running! I just need that in my trail running life! Plus, I had to concentrate on each and every step because of the rocks. I was so scared I was going to break an ankle. Trail running already takes more mental focus than road running (for me anyway) but this was at a whole new level and I just didn't care for it. I was mentally exhausted by the time I finished.
But, the #1 reason I won't do it again is THE WIND! Duh, it's a wind farm, so it's going to be windy, but the entire weekend was constant non-stop wind. I think Ellensburg has Chicago beat for the Windy City title hands down. My hats off (literally since it blew off yesterday and Mark had to chase it) to those that live there and put up with the wind on the daily.
A few random pics from our weekend of camping (KOA Ellensburg = really nice camp ground!) and running!
We were packed up and ready to leave, but Sky wasn't not on board with camping being over.
The only time Sky falls asleep in our arms now is when we are camping. It's kinda the best thing ever!
Post race recovery. I waited to have wine until after I had a ton of water! For some reason I just need pj's after a race, it makes my legs feel cared for.
Texas style BBQ recovery lunch!
Hanging out in camp, watching the river and fly fisherman that floated past.
Pool time!
Not scared of crickets at all!
Overall it was a lovely weekend away. I'm thankful to Mark and Sky for hanging out at the wind facility for 1:25 while I ran. Their support makes running so much more enjoyable, and doable! Thank you to my Mom who had a jam packed weekend, but still made time to hang out with us and spend time with Sky!
Now, I'm back to focusing on PR training! Gotta get my quads back so I can work on my speed!
No comments:
Post a Comment