The switch to trails...

I remember when I decided to run a half marathon... It wasn't a hard decision to make. It seemed like the perfect distance. Just long enough to make me feel like I did more than a morning run but not so long that I had to train more than normal mileage for it. Before I ran trails, my road running group ran a few marathons... and I never took the plunge. I had absolutely no desire. Usually by the end of a half marathon I was like..."yep.. I'm good... ready to be done." And this is how I felt for the last five years of running...until my first trail race.

My friend Garrett had been hounding me for a while...bringing up random races that I TOTALLY should do. I had really been enjoying running on trails. It was a nice break from running on the roads and I was intrigued by the fact that everyone was so friendly and non-competitive. I didn't want to ruin this peace I had found by going to a race....
However, that being said, I tend to be compulsive...so when Garrett told me about Run Toto Run and saw was only a 10 mile run and that you got a sweet hoodie out of the deal...I was sold! I mean, how hard could it be? I signed up online and paid my fee. No turning back.

Then the stories started coming. I was told it was the hardest trail in the area...called Psyco Wyco....and of course a week before the race we had some of the heaviest snow fall for the season. something that made me uneasy...especially on trails.

The morning of the race, Peter and I drove to Wyco....probably a little too early. I always get paranoid that I will miss the start of a race and would rather be early than late. I had convinced Peter to tag along and boy did I owe him one for how long we had to wait that early in the morning in our car before the race shuttle came to take us to the start of the race.

We were the second car in the parking lot.  I had wanted to get up to the race start before Garrett and Danny started. Their start was an hour earlier than mine and as time passed.. I realized I was not going to get that chance to wish them luck and also calm my nerves by seeing my only friends at the race before I ran.

Slowly, cars trickled in, and people began to get antsy wondering where the shuttle was. When it finally showed up, the whole crowd let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, the lady on the shuttle had not realized she was in charge of picking up people from this parking lot in addition to the other one. At this point, I was pretty nervous and pretty happy that Peter was with me.

We got up to the start and I immediately went to get my shoes screwed, something I had never had done but had been told was advisable. Danny had kindly left a box of screws with his friend Allison whom I had met once... in the dark... with our running clothes on. I was pretty sure I remembered red hair sticking out from her hat soo I went with that....amazingly I found her and she recognized me. I went to the table and the guy screwed shoes was super friendly and didn't even seem to need the screws that I offered to him for my shoes.
I made small talk with him and another girl who was running her very first trail race too.

Allison found me again and asked if I wanted to meet someone to run with. She must have seen the "deer in the headlights look" on my face and taken pity. She introduced me to Indika who I instantly liked and felt comfortable with. She began telling me details about the course and how long she thought it would approximately take us to finish. I was just happy to have someone to talk to and calm my nerves.
I waved to Peter and we took off.

The first quarter mile was pretty interesting. I felt like I was running in a mixture of sand and cement....Only it was super cold and left my legs wet. I kept trying to take off from excitement, only to be stopped by not being able to lift my leg to continue my stride. We finally got to the trail. Everyone began formed a single file line... and this is where I lost my new friend, Indi.

I began running on the single track cautiously and finally got into a stride. This wasn't so bad. at about mile 2 I decided to talk to the girl in front of me. She told me she had never run this course before either. I was pleased that I could be a complete nerd and comment on things around me and actually have people laugh and comment back.... This had never been the case at a road race. This was so much more relaxed... I actually didn't feel like I was at a race.

We got to the section of the course that was called Wyandotte Triangle. This consisted of quite a few switch backs and circling around. It was here that I met Rose. She was this cheery tiny ball of laugher that seemed to be running the same pace as me. We started chatting and I found out that she has never run a trail race either and that her half marathon PR was the same as mine (2:08). We bonded over wanting to break 2 hours and the fact that here we were...two crazy naive road runners.. that thought this 10 mile trail race wouldn't be too big of a deal... and realizing that we definitely underestimated it.

At about mile 5, we hit a part of the race where the ice began to get a bit scary. Instead of running or walking down hill, I was just surf-sliding. At one point, I heard a familiar guy's voice give warning that he was passing us from behind... It was Garrett! I was having so much fun that I had forgotten he was running the 50K. Like a huge dork I screamed out Yay, Garrett!!! He was moving at a super impressive pace and my screaming alarmed him more than encouraged him. At that exact moment, I hit an especially slick patch of ice and fell hard! ...Onto my hip and my arm. (I need to learn how to fall correctly!)  Three runners around me helped me up and we all continued on. The last 5 miles of the course were especially icy and more treacherous than my little road runner body or spirit had experienced in the past. 20milers and 50kers sped by falling and sliding by us only to fall into a curve and jump back up. I was impressed as I continued to cautiously tiptoe on at what felt like a pace my grandmother would scoff at. 

The last three miles were the longest three miles of my life. Is this really just a 10 mile run? What a humbling experience. I might be exaggerating (not that I am known to do that) but the last 3 miles had atleast 7 uphills that felt like mountains. Every time I finished one, I would think to myself surely this is it...oh wait... really? another?

As the last mile came to a close, I began to see signs of encouragement for people. I started sprinting and as I saw the finish line, there was Peter. Who knows how long he had been waiting. I actually had tears come to my eyes. I had never had such a mentally exhausting race.... or a race that was so much fun! Keep in mind, I tottered in at 2:46:25. The slowest 10 miles I've ever run, but it was the most accomplished I had felt in a long time.

I knew at that point, things had changed.  The girl that had previously felt paralyzed walking across campus icy-filled sidewalks was now sliding with ease across the ice in her parking lot to her car. I felt invincible and nothing seemed unattainable after that race. And this, my friends, ... was the first time I thought....marathon? I could probably do that.