Run Like a Girl!!

So, on Sunday, July 13 I ran the Montrail Run Like a Girl 10K trail run in Forest Park.



GREAT weather for a trail run. Must have been 80 degrees at 9am when the race started. The route was on a narrow trail in Forest Park mostly... not terribly wide, and VERY steep at times. I understand that last year this was a problem with creating traffic jams and whatnot.

This year, with our registration, we had to put down our estimated running pace. From that we were separated into something like 11 waves of approx 50 women in each wave. About 250 ladies registered for the race, but opted to not "compete" in the race... and instead got to start on the course around 7:30am at their own leisure, and weren't timed. So, all together there were approx 750 ladies doing this event, which is phenomenal.

I parked at Montgomery Park around 8:30am with all the other ladies... there wasn't really any parking at Lower Macleay Park where the race started and ended... so we had to walk up to the park from there... about a 5 minute walk, nothing terrible.

I milled around for a bit, stretched some. I was in the eighth wave, so I had some time to kill. I knew that Lori was also at this run, but I was having a hard time spotting her.

Finally when I was in line for the start with my wave group, I spotted her in the ninth wave. She trotted over to me to wish me luck. Then it was a matter of waiting till we were told we could leave. Finally the eighth wave was able to set out around 9:12am.

This is me starting the race. I'm placidly looking up at the photographer and smiling to the right of the girl in blue.



We got into single file pretty quickly, and I stayed behind the girl who ended up infront of me for a while, but then I finally decided to start trying to pass girls on this run. Passing is kinda tricky on a trail... you have to not only make sure there is enough room and no one is coming from the other direction, but you have to closely watch the trail at all times for rocks, roots, or loose dirt that could make you trip, slip, or otherwise lose control while you're running. It's crazy!

I ran for maybe the first 1/3 mile until I was in a line of girls who all were stuck behind a slower girl, and we had just hit a steep uphill in the trail. I finally caved and walked for a bit until it was possible to pass the slower girl and keep hussling.

On the first half of the run, I mostly only walked when I was kinda forced to via crowding concerns... but then, in the second half of the run I found myself walking up the steep bits to keep my heart rate and breathing in check. There would have been no way my body could have handled me running that entire course!

Ofcourse, what goes up must come down! At nearly the halfway point, the trail pointed downhill finally... and man did I fly!! I learned the real joy of trail running with the downhill. It's a matter of searching for your footings on the trail REALLY quickly as you basically allow your body to free fall down the slope. ZOOM! It was brilliant.

I think I was getting into the downhills more than other girls, as I ended up passing LOADS of runners on the steep downhill portions of the run. I was barreling down the hillside like an avalanche... er, well, a rather controlled one atleast. My knees held up great too! No worries at all!

Here are two pics of me along the run... they were taken at pretty much the same spot. One was while I was headed out...



And the other was taken on my way back to the finish...



you can tell I've only recently started wearing shorts that short. My upper thigh is kinda pale compared to the rest of my leg. heh.

Finally, after continually pushing myself and passing loads of girls, I sprinted over the finish line!



My time was 1:07:55, or a 10:56 minute mile. I don't mind that it was slower than my last 10K, cause according to my Garmin this run also involved 3,500 ft elevation gain. Whew!!

It was one tough run, that's for sure!

Here is what my Garmin recorded for the run





heh. Looks right!

I met up with Lori after the run, she finished in 1:18:14. Crossed the finish line probably 10 minutes after me I think. We milled around after the race for a touch, and talked about what might be our next big run event. It's kinda still up in the air right now I think. Well, MY next big event will probably be the Lacamas Lake half on July 27th actually.

Anyway, in the Run Like a Girl results, it turns out I was 214th place overall (out of approx 500 racers), and in my age group I was 47th place out of 100. I'm pretty happy with these results!

It was a great run!! Totally want to do it next year, and hey! Who knows? Maybe I'll even train on trails prior to the race!!

AND, if you're wondering what's strapped to my upper arm in the pics? That's my arm wallet. It's easier to run with than something around my waist I think. I can keep my car key, ID, credit card, and a little cash in there just in case while I run.