one hell of a trail run!

on saturday, i headed to rock cut state park in rockford for race #2 in the rock cut trail series. from what i understand, the rockford road runners put on this trail race series every winter, consisting of a december 5k, january 10k, february 15k, and march 20k. i knew it was cold out (20º) and windy and snowy, but i had no idea what was in store!

i arrived at rock cut in time to register for the race ($20 cash in order to pay out the winners!) and head out for a two mile warm-up. i had to head straight to the start after that, where about 150 people (many of them in their 40s and 50s and FIT) started chanting "LARRY! LARRY!" in an effort to summon race director, larry swanson, for the gun. he arrived, offering a few last minute bits of advice, "Don't get hurt! You're going to cross that frozen lake not once - not twice - but THREE times!"

and then we were off!

straight up a hill ankle deep in fresh powder, onto narrow singletrack through the woods, along the edge of pierce lake, up more hills, across the lake, up another hill, through the woods, across the lake again, up more hills, through more powder, across the lake x3, around the lake, and in.

HOLY MOSES! i remember thinking to myself that i was hitting the wall, and then seeing the little yellow plastic pie plate mile marker for mile TWO! this was going to be a LONG 10k. for the first half mile or so, we had to stay single file on the singletrack. i made a few moves into the deeper powder for better position. after that, i got passed by one guy around mile 4 who shouted, "why are we doing this?!?!" when he passed me! other than that, i was pretty well on my own the whole race, with usually not more than two people in view ahead. i passed a few guys on the lake passes, passed a few more on the singletrack, and cut through knee deep powder to pass the only other woman i saw on the course in the final five yards. she seemed pissed but a race is a race! as i passed through the chute, i heard the race official say, "1:18." 1:18!!!!

my legs were literally shaking at the finish. i grabbed a homemade chocolate chip cookie and some water and headed out for a two-mile warm-down. i made it back for the awards ceremony and discovered that i finished 2nd in my age group - though there may only have been two people in my age group! i'm still waiting for the results to be posted, but i think i finished in the top of the second half of finishers.

and i'm really thrilled with that! my 1:18 says something about the difficulty of the race. 12:30 pace really got my heart rate up and there were definite moments where i was thinking that this was harder than any marathon i've run. it took a whole lot of digging deep. it was also great practice for learning to walk (gasp!) up hills and run smart - trail running is a whole new animal and i'm learning as i go.

but for sure, in february, i'll be back!