The LOOP, at Emma Long Park 30 & 10Km Trail Race.

On Sunday, Marla and I ran a Trail Race. I opted for the "kid run" (10km), while Marla opted for the adult 30km version. The race is put on by Rogue Training Systems, the running group we both are part of, and they did a heck of a job.

Marla has been on running trails, and will be even more as she’s training for Pike’s peak Ascent in August. For me, although I have run a few trails 3miles,or so, this was my first official outing as a race.
The 30K’ers took off at 7am, and were to run 3 laps around a 10K course. We, the 10K’ers took of at 7:30am.
I was tired from a long week of late evenings out and long, busy days in the office. I had also raced the Congress Avenue Mile the day before, so I had decided I wouldn’t try anything crazier than a comfortable pace. I took off towards the front of the pack, thinking I’d rather have people pass me, than having to deal with passing the slower people later. About 10 guys ran up to me in the first mile or so, and I gladly let them by.
The trail was quite rocky, with rock ledges acting as steps, spread across the entire terrain. We hugged the side of an undulating hill country “mountain” going up and down, up and down. The ledges were 1 inch tall to 2feet tall. During the first half of the loop, there was a big hill, with giant ledges, I opted to walk up, thinking of Marla’s advice of keeping the heart rate constant instead of un-necessarily getting up into high beat per minute. But I ran the rest, and sped up on the down hills, nearing almost reckless speeds. (that’s fun!).
Why do I look like I'm hating life?! I was really enjoying myself! (note to self: learn to smile while running!)

The only aid station (water stop) was 3 miles in, and let me tell you, water, Heed, M&Ms, animal crackers, oreos, cheese crackers, pretzels, trail mix, salty peanuts, peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, oranges, and bananas were all there for the taking.
I ran the first ½ in around 25mins, and per Marla’s advice (again) I stayed at the Aid Station 1min 25 secs to enjoy the goodies.
By the time I got back underway, a group of 6 guys had reached the water stop, including my running/training buddy Mike (aka Ostrich aka DGM). Within a ½ mile or so, Mike had caught me, and we settled on a nice steady pace on the flat, and easy uphills, while flying down the downhills.
Mike asked me how much more, (as I’m kind of a stop watch freak), but due to terrible math on my part, the finish came upon us much quicker than expected. We picked up the pace, and finished in 50 min 46, and 23rd out of 159. Not too bad for an easy paced run!
I can’t wait for next year!
Marla is still recovering from her Ironman race, and her quads have been burning when she runs, so she decided to take it easy, and try and come in under 3hrs for her 30K.

Marla's race report to come soon...