I DID IT!

This morning, I ran The Legend 5 Mile Trail Run at the Sleepy Hollow State Park near our states' capital - Lansing, MI!  I will let the pictures tell the stories!

All decked out and ready to run . . .but extremely nervous!

Can you find me?  It's Where's Jessica!

And I'm off!

For this race, the 5 mile runners ran a completely different path than the 10 mile runners.  We were told to pay attention to the blue ribbons to make sure we stay on course.  

Mile 1 - Mile 2:  The first mile and a half went very well.  I found people who kept a good pace to stick around with.  That is until one of them went off to the side to tie his shoe.  Then I was left on my own.  I thought that I was doing pretty good, and then I hit the first big hill!  It was intense.  Because they had a water station so close to the start line, I thought that I was doing pretty well until I saw the 2 Mile marker.  I thought that I was at least at 2.5, but I was wrong.  My goal of running the entire race went out the window after that shock and after a little tumble that occured at roughly 2.5 mark.  I had seen aother runner lose her footing and almost wipe out.  I decided to run around that spot, but in turn twisted my right ankle.  Not too bad, but enough to need to walk it off.  It didn't help that my right foot has been giving me problems for the past couple of weeks.  But nevertheless, I remained determined.  

Mile 3

 I defaulted to my "run through the chorus, walk through the verses" method since I had my Zune.  It worked for the most part.  My foot was really starting to twinge from the ankle to the heel, so I paid careful attention to my footing as much as possible.  More steep hills took some work and willpower.  After that, I decided to create a game out of the rest of the race.  I call it "Tag the Ribbons."  To amuse myself, I ran to each of the blue ribbons that were used to mark the trail.  It was silly, but it kept the run entertaining.  I ran past some volunteers to which I waved "Hi" then tagged the ribbon by them.  They must have thought I was weird!  LOL!

Mile 4

I decided to run more than walk at this point.  I basically could run through the first chorus, first and second verse, and a little bit into the bridge of a song.  At times, it sort of felt like a Michael Jackson song.  You think that you are near the end of it, but then it just keeps going!  Around the 4.5 mark, I told myself that it was now or never.  I picked up the pace and kept on running and then when I round the corner near the finish line, I picked up my speed to cross the finish line!

Hitting 5 Miles:

Crossing the finish line @ 1:02:17!  I'm probably really at an hour and some change, but I will have to wait for the results to be posted!

I DID IT!

GRRRRRR!  

I guess I can't really look tough if I'm smiling at the same time!

Reflections:

1) Note to self - GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE THE RACE.  I didn't realize how badly I needed to potty (#1), until, oh, two miles.  I think some of my issues of endurance was tied to this overwhelming need to NOT pee in my pants! 

2) I LOVE TRAIL RUNS!  It was energizing running through the woods breathing the fresh green air.  No cars honking at you.  No traffic lights.  Also, you have to be alert of the ground in front of you so that you didn't trip.  I think this helped me keep an good pace.  That is, until I hit the major hills, but even then, those challenging hills were refreshing.  Especially when you were running down them.  Or in my case, skipping down the hills.  

3) I was very nervous about running by myself.  But it was actually nice to be my own coach.  To be my own cheerleader.  Whether I was saying "RUN GIRL RUN"  or "Hey there, slow down a bit."  I was in control!

4) I really need a GARMIN.  Then maybe the shock of the 2 mile marker and the hit of disappointment that I felt wouldn't have had such an effect.  If I knew where I was in terms of mileage, I probably would have had a better game plan in mind.  

5) It helped to amuse myself with a game.  I know some people try to pick people in the race to run past and stuff, but I liked running to the ribbons.  It almost felt like a video game where you had to pick up coins or points.  It kept my mind busy for the last 2 miles!

6) I am a crazy sieve!  Does anyone else experience this after the race?  I guess I really hydrated myself last night and before the race because I've had to go potty like every 2 hours!  TMI I know, but seriously WTH?

7) I'm proud of my time.  Even though it's a 12 minute mile (2 minutes more than the 10:06 mile I ran during my first 5k), I gave myself realistic goals.  I told Marcin last night "If I finished at 1:30:00, I would be a little disappointed, but I would accept it.  I will be happy with 1:10:00 to 1:15:00.  If I'm under an hour, I would be shock!"  While I don't know my final stats, I know that I'm at about 1:01 and some change at the very least.  GO ME!

I will definitely do a trail run again.  In fact, it may be my niche. . . but I just need to find trails in my area to practice!

Thank you to Running Fit for sponsoring this race!