A constitutional recap

Coming off of a weekend being surrounded by fast trail runners makes me want to be fast(er).

Bryce and I and four other friends did a trail relay race up on Orcas Island at the beginning of the month. The Moran Constitutional Relay definitely did not disappoint.

There was such a positive spirit among all the runners. We stayed in bunks right next to the main race head quarters, which was where the start/finish was, so it was all super convenient — and allowed us to soak in everything in a relaxed manner!

The race is about 70 miles total, divided into 12 legs. So, with a team of six, we each ran two legs. Mine were legs #1 and 6, which were both on the first day so I actually had no running on the second day!

The weather was perfect on Saturday. Cool in the morning but the sun came out. I had breathtaking views at the top of Mt. Constitution during my second leg.

But, let me start from the beginning.

I kicked off the race for my team at 7:30 am and although I tried to start conservatively, everyone started out super fast, so I ended up going out way too fast. I found myself completed winded and out of breath after a mile. This leg was 5.9 miles total and I quickly started delving into a “dark place.” What if I have to walk the rest of the way? What if I finish last? What if I can’t finish?

There were rolling hills and I definitely walked a lot. But, this helped in lowering my heart rate and mentally calming myself down. Several runners passed me, saying “nice job” or another form of encouragement. I carried on.

Eventually the course flattened out — thank goodness! I started getting into a groove and dug myself out of my “dark place.” About at the half way point, another runner passed me but I could always see her up in the distance, which was helpful. I no longer felt completely alone.

Part of the leg went alongside a lake. It was still not that bright out since it was early morning but the calmness of the lake was nice. I could hear cheering as I got closer and closer to the exchange point. With about a mile to go, I really kicked it in and picked up the pace. And, not that it really mattered, but I passed a good handful of runners in the last half mile or so. What a difference the beginning and the end of my leg felt!

My team was waiting and cheering me in when I got to the exchange. Alex started on leg 2 and my job (for now) was done.

Around noon, I started leg 6, my last leg of the race. Because my teammate I was exchanging with was a speedster, Maria was waiting for me at the exchange when I arrived! As soon as we saw her waving her arms, adrenaline kicked in and I was frantically taking off my jacket and sprinted towards her.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I’m late!” I yelled at her as she handed me the timing chip.

Despite the frantic start, I enjoyed this second leg much better.

It was uphill all the way — 1,724 feet elevation gain —  but I went into this leg knowing I would be walking/hiking quite a bit. This leg was 3.1 miles total.

The first mile was definitely the steepest with mostly walking sprinkled in with just the tiniest bit of jogging. I passed two other runners who were chatting together.

The signage on the course was great so I never was concerned about getting lost. However, as I progressed up the mountain, I suddenly started coming across other runners … coming towards me. I continued along the path but, of course, was worried I had made a wrong turn. Why am I the only one going this way and everyone else is running in the opposite direction?

Well, turns out that the next leg goes back the way I was going. All these runners coming towards me were running a different leg! Phew, I felt better once another runner passed me who was doing the same leg as me.

The last bits to the top of the mountain were draining but the views were so worth it. I wanted to stop and take it all in but I knew Bryce was waiting at the top to run the next leg. I kept going and was rewarded with this view at the top.

Day 2 of the relay didn’t have the same great weather. It was cloudy and rainy off and on. But, my team still killed it.

We surprised ourselves and ended up placing 13th out of 52 teams! Also, our day 2 standing was 9th overall. Not bad for a group of friends that included a new trail runner, someone who joined our team a month from race weekend, one who was coming off a cold and a few who “didn’t really train.”

Beat the Bridge race recap

This race recap is pretty uneventful.

I ran with friends. We beat the bridge. The weather was perfect (cloudy, but not cold). My knee felt wonky.

But, to go into a little more detail … this is how it all played out two Saturdays ago at the Beat the Bridge 8K.

Bryce kindly drove Joanna and I to Husky Stadium where we met up with Phyllis and Andrew shortly after 7:30 am. Our race was to start at 8:30. Luckily, it wasn’t too crowded yet as we got our bibs from packet pickup. (Yup, none of us had done packet pickup the day before!)

Then, it was just a lot of waiting around.

Phyllis and Andrew did a warm-up but Joanna and I proceeded to just hang around inside the stadium. Maybe a little stretching occurred? I figured the first mile of the race would be my warm up.

We waited until maybe 5-10 minutes until the race start to make our way to the starting line. It was really crowded and because there was a barricade along the start, the only way to “get in line” was through the start line, where all the elite runners stood, or all the way in the back … which, from where we were standing, was nowhere in sight.

We opted to just hover near the start line so that we could squeeze into the crowd once the gun went off. It worked.

While the three of us made no real pact to stick together, we ran together. Joanna was fighting a cold. Phyllis had a wonky-knee thing. You all know my deal.

We waved at Bryce as he stood on an overpass walking bridge, taking our photos — our own personal paparazzi.

At the beginning we were running steadily at 8:10 pace. Not gonna lie. This felt fast and slightly uncomfortable for me. But, I was running with my friends so, oh well!

We made it across the University Bridge, with plenty of time to spare, and continued up a steady incline. We chatted off and on.

Joanna pointed out a young kid, probably around 12 or 13, who kept sprinting and then walking. “He better not beat us!” she said.

I held the same thought but didn’t really care that much.

We rounded our way back to the stadium and spotted Bryce again on the overpass bridge, cheering us on and taking photos. Even though we were outside Husky Stadium, we still had a mile or so, including an out and back, before the finish.

Our pace steadily slowed down. I wasn’t paying much attention to my watch. All I can say is that I didn’t feel too horrible since I had Joanna and Phyllis by my side.

Joanna finished one second before me and Phyllis a few seconds behind me. I don’t even remember my finish time but I think we averaged around 8:30 pace.

How do I feel? Meh — because the knee pain still persists.  Glad I got to run with friends though.

The Trail Mixers take on Ragnar Trail Cascades

I wasn’t sure how the race weekend would play out — after all, while my teammates and everyone else would be running and tackling elevation climbing, I’d just be captaining, race volunteering and walking. No running for this injured runner.

Ragnar Trail Cascades was cancelled due to forest fires last year. It was a brand new race and we were all excited to run and participate. My team decided to transfer our race entry over to this year’s race. This time I’m sidelined with a stress fracture. (I may just be forever cursed to never actually run this race!)

It’s an all-day/all-night trail relay race where teams of eight people complete a total of 132.8 trail miles. Each person runs three legs of three marked loops. Your campsite is your home base, not a stinky van like the road Ragnar races.

Even though I couldn’t personally run, I had a good time.

The race started Friday and I kicked off our team by speed-walking the first (easy) 2.7-mile leg. It kind of felt like the walk of shame as I took off from the start/finish/transition area, so I jogged my way out and then started walking once I turned the corner.

Good news, my knee did not hurt at all from this 10-20 step slow jog!

My team didn’t allow ourselves enough time to check-in/actually arrive two hours before our race start time, so the rest of my teammates were unloading our car and setting up camp as I walked. The course was very well marked and easy to navigate (in the daylight at least!)

I felt a little weird when other runners passed me enthusiastically saying “Nice job!” since I was just walking. But, I tried not to read too much into it. And, I always stepped off to the side to allow them to easily pass me. I did surprisingly end up getting one kill (Ragnar terms for passing another runner) so there’s that!

I finished my loop a little after 12 noon and there was a bit of confusion with our transition as I had to rush out of the transition tent and find my team/tell Joanna it was her turn to run. I guess I walked faster than we all anticipated, which was evident by my glutes kind of being sore the next day!

Bryce and Andrew picked up my two other legs. So yes, they ran four total legs rather than the normal three. (Huge props, and thank-yous to them!)

Many of my teammates said the red (hardest 7-mile loop) was the most fun and better than the short one. One of my teammates ran along side a cow “pacer” at one point. No one from my team had any falls or injuries, so I’d call that a pretty successful run. We also lucked out and finished Saturday morning right before it started to rain!

Also, small brag: We finished 13th overall with very little to no training! Our total time was 22 hours 27 minutes (and 27 seconds).

We had packed some card games, and I even packed a book since I wasn’t running, but honestly there really wasn’t much “down time” as you would expect. Most of us had done road relays where you have to drive from point-to-point so we expected this race to be a little less intense in that sense.

Yes, not driving was great! But, you still had to keep an eye on time and make sure you didn’t miss your next runner coming into the transition area. My one friend/teammate Brent put it best: It’s like you’re all in one van so there’s no time to rest! (Those who have done a road relay will understand his comment).

My volunteer time in the transition tent Friday afternoon was really fun (and dusty!) Although I had to touch many sweaty wrists to remove slap bands indicating the loop the runner had just completed, I was happy to help. And, it was fun seeing some of my teammates start/finish as well as strangers. I tried not to think too much into “how great it was for everyone to be running” and “poor me for not being able to run.”

I’m not sure if all my friends would want to do this race again just because they would be running the exact same loops again (obviously unless the race course were updated). But, I am definitely looking forward to either actually running this trail relay in the future or fully participating in another one. Oahu Trail Ragnar 2018, anyone??

Seattle Half 2015 Recap

I have a lot of races that I train pretty consistently for, but then for whatever reason, I do not take the last week very seriously.

This happens quite often with the Seattle Half, with its proximity to Thanksgiving.

I stay up too late baking pies the night before the day of feasting. And then my cousin and I will go Black Friday shopping and stay up late Thanksgiving night and/or Black Friday morning.

Dreams of actually racing the Seattle Half go down the drain (along with my wallet from said Black Friday shopping) and I figure I will just “push myself” and not expect any miraculous PR or anything.

After all, if you’re going to race, you can’t be depriving yourself of sleep those crucial nights before race day!

This year’s race, I was not only busy but was emotionally drained. I had back-to-back funerals around Thanksgiving. The race was at the bottom of my mind.

So, I really didn’t know what to expect that Sunday after Thanksgiving.

But, With Joanna and Mo by my side for a majority of the 13.1 miles, I had a pretty darn good race.

Taking our photo before the race!

We didn’t start in our appropriate corral because we attempted to hit up the portapotties before the start. So, there was a lot of weaving at the beginning. It was cold and maybe shorts was a poor decision on my part.

We also had to be extra careful out running that morning. It was so icy and the roads were not salted. One woman even fell near us when we were running the I-90 expressways! (She got up and thankfully was OK).

But, there’s a feeling of nostalgia whenever I run this race. I guess it’s because I have done it so many times and the course runs by my high school!

My main goal of the race was to clock in around 1:50 (or sub-1:50). Mo was my trusty calculator since my Garmin was worthless after we went through the I-90 tunnel and lost signal.

I felt pretty good the entire race. Of course, that Madison hill was tough per usual. It was a nice treat to have my Oiselle teammates at the top cheering and screaming for me though!

The last 5K was also a struggle but I told myself to just stick with Mo for as long as I could. And, I did a fairly good job. She stayed within eye sight!

Final time was 1:48:32. (My next-best time to my actual half PR, and a Seattle course PR for myself).

The whole gang!

Not too bad for a sleep-deprived runner. Not too bad for half marathon #20.

I love that I have friends who will train and race with me. I love that I have a body that will not quit running.

I love that we had a rain-less Seattle Half 2015.