Forget the PR 25k

Friday afternoon I headed down to Mohican State Park. I had just wrapped up my 2nd Master's Degree and was ready to blow off some steam! Yes, 2nd Master's Degree, my M.B.A., woot! I was in awe the whole way down, I love the country and fresh air. 

 

 My cabin ended up being upgraded to a lake view, perfect. 

 My sister and her boyfriend drove down Friday night to join me and cheer me on Sunday.  We had a blast Friday night and probably stayed up a bit too late.  I relaxed all day Saturday outside on the deck of the cabin.  It was so peaceful and beautiful, just what I needed! I soaked up the sun and wrote out my training and race plan for the summer (It's going to be so much fun!). 

Saturday night, I relaxed some more with the first fire of the season.  I love fires and being outdoors so much.  I headed to bed early, race day was going to be tough! 

I have no idea why but I was not nervous at all for this race.  My mindset was to not overthink and to just do it.  I was way undertrained.  Trying to wrap up my M.B.A. was very time consuming and I was short staffed at work, plus I really don't like running in the winter months.  I think my longest run was about 9 or 10 miles in the CVNP and it was a while ago.  Oh well!  The first 10 miles I was great, I probably could have been a bit faster if I didn't stop so much to soak in the views.  I was out by myself most of the time and I ran as much as I could at the begining, knowing that I would be crawling up hills and suffering at the end.  After about 8 miles my hands started to get swollen, they looked like little sausages and it was hard to move them.  I believe this is from dehydration, apparently I don't drink enough.  My only thought heading out into the 4 mile loop by the covered bridge was, "Shit, how am I going to climb if I can't get a grip with my hands?" It was a muddy mess the entire way and I loved it.  Following the creek back to the tree climb was so pretty and the icy cold water felt amazing on my sore feet.  My knees and legs were pretty sore as well, I'm sure the water crossing would not have bothered me at all.  I got to the tree climb and a couple of guys quickly passed me and I thought it best to just follow right behind them....in case I fell or something.  I'm still terrified of heights but I crawled up the tree roots quickly with no problem.   I was feeling pretty beat up at this point but I continued to enjoy the views despite the cold rain. 

This was my first long distance trail race and the aid stations rock!  Far better than any road race or triathlon.  So many yummy choices and awesome volunteers!  

I worked my way back, hiking most of the way at this point.  I don't think my shoes had great traction because I kept sliding down the hills and the 50kers were running down with no problem at all. Oh well.  I waddled may way out of the woods and into the finish.  I have no idea how I managed to move my legs so that I could run into the finish line and not look like a penguin. 

 

 

What a weekend!  I told myself going into this race that I would not sign up for another spring race.  Last year I completed the Cleveland Full Marathon and this year the 25k and I couldn't make myself run in the cold.  However, after running the Forget the PR 25k, I WILL be making this race a regular!  It was a blast, a challenge, and it was so beautiful. 

 

B.L.U.E.