I would like to start with giving huge praise to Ben and his team at the Denton Area Running Club for getting this race off the ground. The mid-January race date has been a challenge for them with the race being completely cancelled last year and it was in danger of the same fate this year. The week of the race brought a large amount of rain to an area that was already damp from recent rains. The trail was not runnable, so rather than cancel the race a second time, the organizers found a way to make it go by crafting a 5K loop for us in the pastures and roads around the Scout Barn. Five loops would get you a 25K, ten loops the 50K, round and round we went until we met our distance.
I can handle a lot of running conditions, but I despise mud and wet feet. I blame my very first trail run, Grasslands Half of 2010 which was slick with heavy clay mud from start to finish and my first marathon, run in 40 degrees and a downpour. The trauma is real, y'all! I woke up in a "mood" dreading running in 25K of mud. The folks from the race had posted a few pictures of the course the night before and I was just not excited about any of it. I was a grumpass from the very beginning, I'll admit it. I also had a little bit of a sore throat and just felt "off." Mr K and I headed off to the race, he feeling super pumped and me threatening to quit if I stopped having fun.
The best part of racing is seeing so many friends, both old and new. It was great to catch up and visit before the race got started. I also knew that Ninja, Baha, and Ali were already out running their 50K and I looked forward to seeing their faces on the course as well.
The rain from the week had moved out and the sun shone brightly on us, a saving grace since sunshine makes everything better. I started the first loop with some caution, just hoping to get a feel for the course and see where and how bad the mud would be. In less than a mile Ninja and Baha came whooping and hollering as they ran around me, "encouraging" me to pick up the pace. We were in a pasture for just over two miles and I cringed as my feet hit the cold water and mud. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I was happy to be on the gravel and road part of the course because I felt like I could really run and make up some time. I barely noticed the hill on the return but it would not escape me on future laps. I saw lots of friends and smiling faces on this out and back and it gave me a boost.
One loop down, not exactly having fun but not exactly hating it either - let's keep moving. I have no record of my lap splits because my timing chip failed and there is no record of me even doing this race. I think that this is hilarious as it is one I wanted to forget before it ever started....but the data nerd in me would love to see how my laps shook out. I would guess that I got a little bit faster on the second one because I was feeling a little more confident of the terrain. I kept getting scratches from the thorny bushes on the side of the course, but I avoided some extra mud here and there and I was fine with this. I didn't feel quite as springy when I got to the road sections this time and I was realizing that the hill on the return was going to have to be dealt with each time. I was seeing Mr K on the road during these loops and he always asked "having fun yet?" I would just shake my head and keep on running.
If I had to pick a point when things really started to go south it would be during the 3rd loop. The middle usually the hard part of a race for me, too far from the beginning to have the start line excitement and too far from the end to be excited about finishing - just stuck in the middle. I spent much of this loop asking myself what was wrong with me. I was less than 10 miles in and I felt like I'd been running all day, and I felt so tired, like I could lay down right there and sleep for a week. I tried to get myself going again, but I was overwhelmed at the thought of two more loops after the one that I was on. This all should have been a clue that I was not feeling like myself, but it was too hard to tell if it was my attitude or my actual body telling me that it wanted to quit.
I made it through the road section again, this time walking the hill on the out and back and a good part of the road into the Scout Barn. I told myself if I started the fourth loop then I would finish the race. The question was, did I really want to start that loop? I took a break, ate some M&Ms at the aide station, and started walking with tears in my eyes. About this time Ninja came around, looking spry and happy and on his way to a second place finish in the 50K. I told myself to suck it up, if he could do ten loops of this I could manage five. I also told myself I could walk as much as I wanted to, just to keep moving forward.
The sunshine was so beautiful, but the wind had really picked up by this point and I got cold on some of the exposed spots. There were times when I could see the barn across the field and I considered just cutting across and calling it a day at ten miles, but I kept on moving. It wasn't fast and it certainly wasn't pretty, but I finished that fourth loop. I stopped for some PB&J and I got to work on the last loop - I was going to make it.
There was probably even more walking by this point, I just felt like I had nothing left in my legs. A few runners caught up with me and a few of them passed, some of them not moving much faster than me. About a mile in I met up with a girl named Marisol. She said that she was doing the 50K and she was on her sixth loop and was having a hard time. I'm so happy that I met her because having some company and wanting to give her a boost of positive energy helped keep my energy up.
As I ran past the Scout Barn and towards the road for one last time, my gang of hecklers were gathered near the finish line. They all seemed to be taking great joy in the fact that I was having such a grumpass day. Am I really that annoying with my positive energy? Apparently so! In any case, it made me smile a bit as I headed out for that last mile or so. I could hear Marisol near me and we stuck together for that last little bit before I crossed the finish line and she kept going.
16.5 miles, 3 hours 35 minutes and 5 seconds - I'm not sure I've ever been so happy to be done with a race. I'm not sure I've ever been that close to quitting a race. As long as you learn something, it isn't a wasted day and I learned a few lessons that day. As the evening and weekend went on, I felt worse as my energy level decreased and the congestion increased. My attitude wasn't great, but it looks like that was more a result of how my body felt versus my mental state. Might it have gone better if I had a better attitude, despite not feeling 100%? That answer is hard to know too. In any case, I listened to my body and took a few days off just rest and sleep - and wouldn't you know it, when I ran again later in the week there were rainbows and unicorns all around!
The raging case of poison ivy that I picked up from the course was a whole other story though.....I need another shot at good old Knob Hills, crossing my fingers for dry trails next year.
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