Instep Trail Races - 7Miler

InStep Trail Races, 7 miler - September 14, 2019
time = 1:05:33
pace = 9:48
placed 1 in my age group (45-49) out of 7
placed 4 in women out of 43
placed 15 overall out of 70
link to strava data

please note:  this is the fastest i've run this race in the past 3 years... yay!

the start of this report is going to look remarkably like last year's report in that i didn't run much prior to this race.  in fact, my last run prior to this race was the sunday before... so 5 full days with no running.  this is because about 2 weeks ago i ran this course (minus the tower) in new shoes/insoles (same shoes and insoles as always... just a new pair of each) and for whatever reason, my right shin got very very sore.  i mean, tender to the touch sore.  this, in turn, affected the rest of the lower leg on that side and i opted to see my physical therapist last friday as a ditch effort for some magical cure.  he said my soleus muscle was all jacked and was likely affecting the rest of the leg.  he did some deep tissue massage that left me hella sore the rest of the week and i opted for a short run on that sunday post PT, but rest the remaining days of the week.

i got to lapham early so that i could warm up incase everything was still jacked.  i ran a loop around the parking lot and wouldn't you know it... my stupid leg was weird.  now, i say it was "weird" because it wasn't painful.  it was weak feeling... like a pinched nerve sort of... or like it was going to give out and not hold my weight sort of.  i walked it off, stretched, stretched my ankle specifically, and then figured i was going to have to wing it.

i ran into the only other person i knew was running the same race, candice, and we talked and commiserated about our injuries.  then it was almost time to race.  incidentally, this is the last year that russ is directing the race.  instep was bought out by PRO so there would be no more of this race... until it was announced that silver circle sports events is going to take it over.  not sure what they will call it or how it will be run, but since this is my favorite course and favorite race of the year... i'm glad they're going to continue it.

so candice and i started the race together and nursed our injuries for about the first 1/2 mile and then we separated.  i had a time goal for this race and once my leg felt fine... i decided i was going to still shoot for it.  so off i went.

i try to run the whole first mile of the course (race or no race) and that means that i run approximately the last .25 uphill.  i know that doesn't sound difficult but that is very difficult for me.  i am not good at running uphill.  in fact, i would say that i am absolutely terrible at it and can't figure out how to get better.

so i hit 1 mile on my watch and promptly started walking.  oh sweet relief!  walking is wonderful... until it's not.  so i walk a little ways up to a specific dip in the trail where it sort of becomes a gentle incline instead of an actual hill and then i start running again.  this particular hill is called gut buster and is approximately .78 of a mile up.  it seems not so hard when you're looking at it but when you're trying to run it... it's very difficult.  for me at least...

so i run/walk up this hill and try to run as much as i can with certain spots where i take walk breaks to help get my heart rate back down and to not feel like i'm dying.

then the top comes and the sweet sweet joy of bombing the downhills begins.  i LOVE, absolutely LOVE bombing down.  it is my reward for trying to run up. lol!  i also make up significant time by doing this - quads be damned!


it was at this point that i caught up to a couple of guys as i bombed down a hill.  i kept trading places with them for a bit and started to get annoyed and too focused on where they were.  they were ahead of me for the whole first part of the race, but after gut buster i passed them on the down hill and then when i walked they passed me on the up and this went on for several different hills until i was finally tired and annoyed enough of being so close to them that i  took off on the flat at the top of asthma hill to get some space between us.  i lost them in the hills just prior to the tower, and i managed to maintain pretty good splits even with running up the tower in mile 4.  i meant to count the sets of stairs up the tower but forgot... i think there are 5 flights but i have no idea how many actual stairs.  once at the top i turn around and fly down... holding on so that if i eat it... i won't fall far.

i saw candice on my way from the tower as she was heading to the tower.  since i am so competitive and she was the only person i knew personally who was running the race i really wanted to stay ahead of her.  she is a much better runner than me and she kicked my ass at high cliff passing me in the last mile and beating me in the race so this time... i wanted to stay ahead... cuz... competitive.  duh...

thankfully right after the tower is the downhill (the big slide?) that parallels gut buster and is similar length so almost a mile downhill... running at full speed and making up time.  i passed a few people but this race is 3 different races at the same time on the same course so it's hard to determine who's in your race and who's running the 1/2 or the full marathon distances... and trying to look at someone's bib is just too tough so i have no idea if i was passing people in my race or not.  no matter... it feels good to pass people cuz... competitive.

i hit the bottom of the hill and at that point it's about 1.5 miles to the finish with another long hill (aptly named 2 tier because there are 2 parts of the hill with a small sort of flatish incline between them).  i passed a guy on the flat who passed me right back on the first portion of 2 tier, and back and forth until the downhill called magic carpet ride.  i zoomed past him on magic carpet ride because who cares about quads, and then there was one more man in front of me.  he seemed to be running faster than me but when we hit the final flat at the same time i pulled ahead by a hair.  it was then that i decided to try and stay ahead of him.  it was SO HARD!  i was literally only a breath ahead of him... i could hear him breathing on my right the whole time.  when we both hit the final straightaway and i could see the finish i started sprinting.  normally i do not do this because i simply do not have it in me.  normally i feel so bad at the end of a race that it takes all that i have just to keep running, however this time... i RAN!

i ran as hard and as fast as i could with him on my heels the whole time.  i came in first with only a 2 second different between our times!  TWO SECONDS!  man... that felt really good.  it felt really good to run as hard as i could and do as well as i did coming off a stupid weird injury.  i'm hoping that the injury is gone for good and that tomorrow when i wake up i will feel great and will be able to run a nice run with frank.

i've got some big goals for 2020 and need to go into the new year fresh and injury free!

as always i love the shit out of this race.  i love lapham and love running there as much as i can.  i'm not sure what the race will be called next year but i hope it's put on with just as much love and care as russ put into it all these years.

WI Trail Assail - Sweetest Day 10K

WI Trail Assail - Sweetest Day 10K - October 15, 2016
time = 52:54
pace = 8:30
placed 1st in my age group (40-44) out of 10
placed 6th in women out of 57
placed 23nd overall out of 91
link to strava data

i signed up for this race on a whim.  i just joined oiselle voilée, and there was some chatter on the private fb page regarding this race.  sounded like a good way to meet some new ladies, and to run a trail race... what could be better?!?  so i signed up for the 10K.  mainly i chose that distance because i've only run one other 10K and it was awful.  mostly it was awful because it was full on winter (we know how much i love racing in winter) and the course left a lot to be desired.  so i decided to run this distance for that reason and because i had 5mi on my training plan for that day.  what better way to spend those miles?  amiright?!?

on friday night the weather said it was going to be in the high 60's and sunny.  this was music to my ears.  i picked out my gear and got everything ready for saturday morning.  i woke up before my alarm on saturday morning (as is customary for me), let the dogs out, fed them, and did my usual morning things to get my stomach straight.  i got dressed and as i was getting my shoes on to leave the house i realized that i almost forgot my bib!  ugh... great start to the morning but at least i didn't actually leave the house before remembering.  just before all of those shenanigans the groupme messages started pouring in.  this chat group was set up so that all the oiselle birds could communicate and meet up before/after the race.  i messaged that i was leaving and was on my way.

the drive out to nashotah was uneventful.  i've driven it hundreds of times.  we take our dogs out here to the dog park fairly often, and when we lived in delafield we were regulars coming a few times a week.  it's a great dog park.  i've only run at nashotah once... it was thanksgiving morning with the lptr group.  that particular time there was at least 6 inches of snow on the trail and took a very long time to run a few miles so i had no idea what the trail looks like without snow on it.  i was interested to see.

the groupme app was blowing up the whole drive so i was excited to arrive and respond.  i got there and let the ladies know i had arrived so that we could meet up.  the parking lot was pretty full, but the place didn't look too crowded.  i was sure i'd be able to find people without difficulty.  i parked right in the front by the bathrooms facing all the action.  did i mention that it was freaking cold out?!?  turns out that the weather was not correct (surprise surprise!)... it was high 50's and super windy.  the wind made it feel so much colder than it actually was.  i decided to sit in my car to wait.  i asked where people where and only got the response that they were "here" so i opted to wait in my car until i got a more accurate location.  when parking my car i realized that I FORGOT MY GARMIN!  OH.MY.GOD... WHO DOES THAT?!?  i mean... of all the things i could forget... my garmin?  really?!?  ugh...

went to the bathroom 3 times between arriving and the start of the race.  mostly i went that many times because i simply didn't want to have to pee while running and i'm paranoid about that during races.  while in the bathroom line the last time dave and emma came up and said they had been looking for me.  it was great to run into them!  i saw jeff after one of the other bathroom runs... that was nice too.  never ran into the oiselle ladies tho'... that would come later.

i ended up sitting in my car to wait for the race because i was so cold.  after the last bathroom break it was time to begin.  i jogged over to the start and found dave.  i stood with him to begin and when we took off i had to goof around with my strava app on my phone to track the run.  what a pain in the keister.  got that situated (had to hold my water bottle in my mouth to get my phone in my pocket), bid farewell to dave, and started making my way through the hoard.

we began in a small meadow, ran around some cones, and then onto the trail.  the trails were wide and groomed mostly covered in grass, packed earth, and wood chips.   it is my understanding that these trails are used for hiking and snowshoes in winter.  there was a decent flat at the start and then the rollers began.  i'm not a fan of rollers if you must know.  they aren't hard per se... i just can't get a steady pace going because i'm not very good at running uphill.  there were a couple of big hills near the end of the loop (the 10K was 2 loops of the same trail) with a pretty nice flat to carry you to the end.  the course is beautiful.

everything is changing right now so the colors are all orange, yellow, and brown... very homey and comforting.  it had rained the night before... actually, several days leading up to the race so the earth was soft and pliable.  made for bombing the downhills a lot less strenuous on the joints.  we all started out together... the 5K, 10K, and the 1/2... then maybe 1.5 miles in we broke off... the 5K broke off and then the 10K and 1/2 stayed together for a bit longer.  when i started the 2nd loop i was with one woman (who turned out to be one of the voilée) who i stayed close to until just before the finish.  i left her when i bombed a downhill and she didn't.

my legs were fatigued on the 2nd loop.  i started pushing hard in the last 2 miles...  i came up on another woman and we were neck and neck passing back and forth on the hills (her running up the hills and passing me and me bombing down the hills and passing her) for the last mile or so.

i ended up leaving her behind in the final flat stretch.  i think that running up that last big hill took it's toll on her and she just couldn't muster up the juice to sprint it in... i took off.  i had a goal of running this race in 53min or less.  there was one other man near us and i passed him too and then there was no one else around us.  as i was running the final stretch i saw the clock said 52 minutes... i opened it up and ran as fast as i could.  i really really really wanted to get in under 53 if i could and it looked like i could make it if only i pushed a little harder.

my legs felt a little burn-y but otherwise i felt pretty good.  i think i should have pushed more on the flats.  it was hard to know how fast/slow i was going without my garmin.  i had to rely on feel and i felt way too comfortable out there.  i should absolutely have been pushing harder.

i ran into the finish with everything i had... or everything i thought i had to give.  i love trail running so much.  the course was beautiful.  i would have enjoyed it more had i not been racing, and had been out for a run instead.  not sure i'll go here to run on my own though...  the loops are pretty short, and i don't drive out that way for something so short... i'd rather run at lapham if i'm going to drive out that way, but that's just me.

i would run this race again... maybe the 1/2 next time so i can really settle into a comfortable pace.  i'm not a fan of the 10K distance.  i don't like it because i feel like i need to sprint the whole distance. i feel like it's too long for a sprint and too short to not be a sprint.  so what do i do?  i try to sprint the whole thing...   on the other hand it could be a good learning experience for me to do this race (the 10K distance) again so that i can learn how to run it successfully and effectively.  there's always more to learn.

the cons... the only thing i am not happy with regarding this race were the results.  the timing company posted incorrect results at first (not really a big deal), and subsequently corrected them before i left.  however... i did get the wrong medal at first.  when they posted the corrected results i was able to give back my 3rd place medal and get the 1st place medal.  my thoughts on that are what about the people who had gotten their medals and left?  such a bummer...  additionally, they didn't post overall results either, and when i contacted them via facebook as well as email asking about this... i've so far today (monday) gotten no response to my inquiry.  that sucks.

i did calculate the overall stats myself and i'm pretty sure they're accurate.  i'm not sure if i'm supposed to count the top male/female in the results or even HOW i'm supposed to calculate them in so i counted them in the total number but not in the results number if that makes sense.

like i said... i'd run this again.  i don't think i'd do the series because there are other races that i'm already doing next year that it will interfere with.  i think if you like trail racing, or even if you've never run a trail race and would like to, this is a great race to do that.  it's not too hard that a novice couldn't do it and feel good about it and it's certainly not easy.  all in all it was a good race and i'm glad i chose the 10K distance.

my body feels good.  nothing hurts.  i'm running between 35-40 miles a week right now and it feels really good.  next (and last) on the calendar is the lakefront discovery run.

it's a 15K along the lakefront the weekend after next.  hopefully this weird warm weather will hold out and it won't be freezing...  

emma (dave's daughter), me, dave

jeff & i

the correct medal