Trail running hurts, and there really is no cross-training for it (unlike road racing, which is more about cardio [that I can get on the bike]). I’m in great shape, but not for this and it showed. Up and down, and up and down turned out to be the murderer of quads, hamstrings, and calves. Two days later and I’m walking pretty funny. I’m pretty sure I used and spent muscles that I didn’t know existed.
So… This was my first ever trail race. I realized that when they asked the crowd at the start who was new to trail running and maybe 2% of the other folks (capped at 100 runners) and I (without hesitation – then I second guessed myself, but realized it was in fact true; after hundreds of races, this was new to me) raised our hands. I’ve run on dirt before, but nothing in the DC area comes close to the trails out here. Rock Creek might be considered a trail out this way, but it would be in the “flat” category. In preparation, I ran once the month prior and had three other runs on my trail shoes since moving west. Totally prepared for ~5 miles up and down trails on a 1100ft ridge.
Why did I do it? Heather’s coworker told me it was awesome. I suppose it could be at some point, but I’m not there yet. I think I may be too much of a numbers person; you can’t really pace yourself by time, you never really know how much further you have to go, and you can’t compare one performance to the next. Those are all things I love about road racing and cycling; they’re so quantifiable.
Not too much to say about the race other than I went out a bit quicker than I probably should have, walked up a massive hill with said coworker of Heather’s (he caught me there and pulled away the rest of the race), and am not too pleased with my overall performance. I guess my expectations should have been a bit lower? Bah. I suppose I could blame it on riding my bike for a full day a few days earlier, but I honestly felt pretty rested otherwise I wouldn’t have even showed up so “bah” on that too. All was not bad, though; I won a free pair of socks that are pretty awesome (wearing them now) and valued at 1/3 of the series entry fee!
So my running will now consist of these weekly races, which combined with the fall series that I was brilliant enough to already register for (have to get in early) will occupy me until the end of October, and a weekend maintenance run of 2-4 miles.
I’m hopeful that things will get better as my body learns to do what it has never done before, but… ow… and the races only get longer from here.
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