Trippin' on Acid...

Lactic Acid that is! What were you thinking?

I had my first organized trail run this weekend and it was the epitome of everything an organized trail run should be. Everything I worried about didn't happen, and everything I didn't think about happened.

Let's first start off with the fact that there was a draconian downpour of rain, all through the night. Clearly God thought we were all going to be thirsty during this race.

I had a great position at the start, right in the upper quartile of runners. After the gun went off, I was quickly passed by a good third of the field as they all sprinted up a hill. Then came my favorite part, we all stopped for several minutes, as this was a single-track trail run, so everybody had to wait in-line. Everybody who just passed me was now out of breath, gasping for air, and I wasn't even warmed up, much less out of air. I got in with a good group. Some older gents, who I could tell had a solid pace and this wasn't their first trail run. Surprisingly enough we all finished within a couple of minutes of each other, which is extremely surprising. Slow and steady may not win the race, but it helps finish it in a fairly respectable time.

The first 3 miles flew by. Under normal conditions, you have views of the river on your left, but under these conditions, you were doing good to see 20 ft in-front of yourself. Seeing the 6-milers split off, I secretly wanted to join them, knowing they had a long, steep hill and then a speedy downhill to the finish.

But like a moth to a flame, I was attracted to the coming pain. The next couple of miles had practiced several times, so it wasn't bad at all. Then came the next check point which read "5.5 miles completed 4.5 miles to go" Of course, if you aren't a runner this doesn't sound like a big deal, but trust me, after running up and down "hills" and through at least 20 creeks, I thought the checkpoint was supposed to mark the 5 or 6 mile mark -arrggghhhh. Then came this torturous hill, that I even saw some elite runners walking. This is when I started to feel my left foot pulsate like it had developed it's own heart. I knew at this point the blister I developed around mile 3 was now quickly filling up with vampire juice, or blood, whatever you choose to call it.
After this arduous hill, it was an easy couple of miles. But then came the crucible. The "rock garden" This was the make or break point of the race - no pun intended. I failed miserably or I passed with flying colors, depending on your views of life in general. What the heck does this mean?

Well, the rock garden is "impossible" to run through. At-best you will hop through it. But it is only to be hoped through by the first handful of elite runners in the race. Anyways, I was passed by A LOT of people - so I failed in this sense (one small detail worth noting, EVERY single person that passed me fell - or seriously slipped). I passed with flying colors in the sense that I didn't break my ankle and I had an awesome time, finishing it up with my friends.
On a final note, I was originally going to ride my bike up there, but considering the thunderstorm, I backed down thinking it wouldn't be that good of an idea, and rode up there with my buddy Jon who is the founder and CEO of iMultisport, which provides insurance to people the insurance companies don't like (e.g. you sky-dive, you swim with Barracuda in the Caribbean, one of your life's biggest dreams is to run with the bulls, even though you used to ride bulls - ok enough about me). Anyway's I think it's a grand idea and Jon's a nice guy if you have any insurance questions.

Have a great week!