Arbor Hills Nature Preserve

I set out in brutal 90% humidity on Sunday to get in a two-mile trail run, roughly 7.5 miles, I think. It was my second run at the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, and my first time solo. This is a gorgeous 200-acre park with both paved and natural trails, and I definitely recommend it. The hills are mild compared to Cedar Ridge but still much steeper than anything around my neighborhood.

 I hit the Outer Loop Trail and got a bit lost and distracted on the Trestle Loop Trail, so I stopped my watch, sat down, and enjoyed the scenery and cool air for a few minutes.

I fell in love a little bit with a guy with a beautiful dog I kept passing throughout the run. I eventually found my way out of the Trestle Loop and back onto the Outer Loop. Once I finished, I turned around and ran the Outer Loop back the other way . . . up the hills.

I may preach to others to be kind to their bodies, but my mantra this day was "Just fucking do it!" whenever I wanted to walk, which was frequently. Going the other direction, I found the gorgeous Riparian Forest and trekked back and forth through there for a while.

At about 1 hour, 45 minutes, I was BEAT. But I dutifully tromped up the last hill and ran one last small loop, determined to finish. It was little more than a glorified speed walk, done slowly. Ultimately, I was amazed at the strength I still found in my legs to carry me up all those hills and across so much distance for a whole two hours. I can't wait to work harder and longer next weekend.

I tested my new Gooseberry hydration pack, Under Armour tee and matching runderoos (which are too cute and I really want a pic of me modeling both), and GU watermelon chomps. I'm pretty happy with all of them. It took me a whole hour to figure out how to hack the hydration pack since I was working so hard for tiny sips. I bit the mouthpiece and used my hands to pull the pack straps forward, squeezing the pack against my body and using the force of physics in my favor instead of trying to suck against the direction of gravity. The chomps have a lighter flavor and are easier to consume than Gatorade chews, which get stuck in my teeth pretty badly.

All in all, it was a good run.

Rugged & Raw 10k

Saturday morning I ran my first 10k trail race! I had run the course once before for training two weeks prior when we happened to get a cool snap, and it was glorious.

Pre-race: Let's do this.

Saturday morning's promised storms failed to make the event, so I ended up slogging in much hotter weather than I'd trained for in grueling humidity and finished several minutes slower than the last time.  The cold front didn't move in until roughly my last mile and a half, and it brought me a second wind. The official clock put me at 1:47 total, with a 17:16 pace. The training run was 1:44, and my goal was 1:40, but considering the circumstances, I'm OK with this.

My head wasn't in it this time, and the back half was truly brutal. I felt very strong through the first half, which is the easier part of the trail. There's a particularly fierce hill near the midway point and lots of steep climbs and descents after it. There are no hills in my town, so it was a helluva struggle for me.

Post-race: Hiding the pain

But I finished in one piece and view this as good preparation for the 6-7 mile Savage obstacle race I'm running on November 23. I finally have the motivation to incorporate hills and trail running into my training on a regular basis and am scheduled to do a training run with a friend tomorrow at a local nature preserve. Its hills are kinder but still difficult for me.

Major kudos to the event staff. This is Rugged & Raw's third year, and the race is capped at 200 runners. For such a small event, I was thoroughly impressed. The trails were marked wonderfully clearly. There were two aid stations on the course in addition to the one at the start/finish, and they all had water, Gatorade, AND Gatorade energy chews, which have been my product of choice so far. The swag bag included a sweet tech tee, a cool rubber bracelet, a package of energy chews, a package of wheat flatbread, and a couple of small product samples. Though I typically go for medals, I was perfectly happy with the shirt and overall organization.

I just found the overall race results. I placed 89th out of 101 10k runners and 43rd out of 53 women 10k runners. It's not good but not last. I'm eager to see how much I can improve and will try to fit this race into my calendar next year.

The Rugged & Raw 10k/20k race supports Back on My Feet, an organization that uses running to inspire self-sufficiency and independence among the homeless population and to help them find employment and housing.