Ice Age Trail - Half Marathon

Yesterday I had the honor of running my very first trail race. It seems like my half marathons are supposed to be surrounded by impossible events. The first time the morning of my marathon started with a huge thunderstorm and branches still had to be cleared out of the way before the race could start. This time, it was a little less dramatic. The little one has been sick for a good portion of the week leading up to my big race and the night before the race, she had the worst cough and could not sleep (and thus neither could I). An alarm was not needed to make sure I get up in time. I kept telling myself that I have read in several books that you should try to get enough sleep in the week leading up to a big race and that this should make up for a lack of sleep the night before the race. I was just hoping this would be true. Because of the little ones sickness, I drove alone to the race. She was in not so great shape, when I left and so we thought, they shouldn't come. It was sad to think that I wouldn't see Homebody and little one at the finish line, but if she wasn't feeling any better, we didn't want to have her out there for that long.

I have never run a trail race, so I wasn't sure what to expect in comparison to a road race. I can affirm now that the atmosphere at a trail is indeed more relaxed. There were only 160 half marathoners which made it much more intimate. When everybody was lined up at the start, the crowd could even quiet down enough to listen to the race director explaining the route and giving last words of advice. He didn't even need a speaker system, which apparently had experienced some issues after the 50 mile and 50K runners had started earlier.

He just counted down and off we went. The first big difference to a road race I noticed was that there was not such a great sense of urgency as you always experience in a road race. In a road race as soon as it starts, people are impatiently passing each other and trying to make sure to get in the right spot for their pace. This time this happened in a much more calm way. There was no rush to get ahead and this made me much more calm about first figuring out what my comfortable pace feels like.

The very beginning part of the race led us through a fairly flat area of the moraines. At the beginning there were three tattooed ladies in front of me who just chatted away. I could here them talk that they had been afraid this would be too difficult hill wise, because they hadn't run many hills, but that (at about mile 1) it wasn't that bad. I think I wasn't the only one grinning at their words, knowing that this was just a side shoot trail and the big portion of the trail with all the rolling hills was still ahead of us. After passing them, I actually didn't see them again.

The course consisted of two loops. My first loop went really well. I felt good and once the field had cleared out a little, I started to enjoy the beauty of the trail. At the end of the first round, there was a photographer laying on the grass taking picture. I didn't see him at first and jokingly said to him while passing "You're like a cop-car hiding in the grass". I hope it put a smile on my face, when he took the picture, because I just saw his work for other races on his page today and he takes awesome shots. If my shots turn out that good, he can hide in the grass for any races I do.

The second loop provided more challenges than the first one. My lack of sleep started to become apparent. I could feel fatigue set in. My hydration pack became my life line. I ate some saltine crackers I had brought with me. My mouth felt so dry at that moment that I must have looked like cookie monster, with dry pieces of saltine cracker flying everywhere out of my mouth (maybe actual cookies would have worked better...). Note to self, find something more moist for the next race. Every runner that I passed or that passed me was as encouraging as possible. We all told each other what a great job the other was doing. On some parts of the race, the longer distance runners had to come from ahead of us and we knew to cheer them on. The funny thing was that I congratulated several runners on their great performance and as they ran by noticed that they didn't have a race number on. I wondered if these were runners that were just out on a training run today and chose the route, because they knew everybody would cheer them on for their great effort. I mean that's not usually something you can get otherwise on a regular training run :-)

My last two miles were a challenge of willpower. Luckily, I came across the "lady in black" who helped me stay motivated for these last efforts. We played leap frog for quite some time. She sprint down the hills and pass me, during the next up hill I would pass her. At one point we ran next to each other and she said "You are such a killer on those uphills. You catch me every time". I said that I am so terribly slow at walking any hills that I don't know what else to do but run them. I thanked her for keeping me going and she did the same. It was nice to share that moment and it was nice to have somebody compliment you on running hills, when you already feel really exhausted. It sure helped me to not even think about walking the last three hills that led up to the finish line. It felt so good to cross. And "the lady in black" and I found each other afterward to congratulate each other on a good finish.

Beside the "lady in black" I was also welcomed by my friends (thanks for coming out!) and to my surprise by Homebody and the little one. They decided they didn't want to stay away and I was so happy for it. During the last hills, I had hoped to see their smiling faces. Thanks to all four of you for cheering me on and making my finish special!!!

I think, despite the more challenging terrain of rolling hills that I haven't experienced in road races and my exhaustion at the end, my vote is for trail races. The people seemed so much more relaxed and you just can't beat the serenity and beauty of the trail!