East Fork Backpack Trail Run 2013

Finally going to write about this before I forget the entire thing. Okay this was back on July 21. It is my least favorite race in the local trail series. The format is a handicapped start. Bob Roncker handicaps you by age, sex, and his own impression of how fast you are based on recent performances in the series. The handicapped race is 5.6 miles and it changes direction in alternate years.

What don't I like about it? Well, the handicapped thing means that instead of starting off in the back of the pack and finishing there relatively uneventfully, I have to start out early and get passed eventually by almost everybody else in the race. And that is unpleasant.

There is also a 10 mile race that is not handicapped but who wants to be out there that long? Not me.

But, after those sucky early races, I needed a better finishing position to improve my standings in the trail series. So I registered for this one as usual. The advantage is that I would know ahead of time how many other women were in the race, so i would have an idea ahead of time whether it would be worth showing up for it. When I saw that there were just a couple of dozen women entered, that meant even if I finished last it would be better than some of my finishes in the earlier races.

But if it had been raining and the trail conditions were going to be muddy, I was still going to stay home. I've had enough slogging through the slippery mud for awhlle.

The trails were dry so I had to go.

I am having a hard time writing this. Zen is driving me nuts today.

So, I got there and it was a nice day, not too horribly hot. Starting position was # 10, six minutes after the first runner. Chatted with Brenda W. at the start line. She usually does the 10 mile but she was doing the shorter race this time. She was starting one minute ahead of me, so I got to watch her and another woman take off up the hill. At the start line, Bob pointed to them and said to me "somebody for you to chase!" Haha, Bob, you are not supposed to know about that! I am trying to act like I don't care how i do or whether I beat Brenda.

Now, I don't remember a whole lot about the race at this point. The trails were in pretty good shape There was only a little bit of mud in a couple of places. I felt good and strong the whole way. I actually caught up to Brenda and the other woman about a mile in. I did not really want to pass them because all I needed to do was finish within one minute of Brenda to come out ahead of her in the results. And I wanted to take things as easy as possible. But i guess I was just having a stronger day, and I had to go around her and the other gal.

I somehow managed to pass all the people who started ahead of me and did not get passed by all of the people who started behind me. My time of 1:04:17 was slower than last year but faster than two years ago. I was 10 of 25 women, 34 of 58 runners overall, 20 of 58 by handicap, and 22 of 58 age-graded.

One smart thing I did this year was to bring along a cooler with ice and a plastic baggie, so I could ice my knee before driving home. So after I finished and got some orange slices and bagel and banana, I sat on the grass watching the rest of the field come in while I iced my knee. i have to remember to start doing that for all of my races, because it made a big difference in my recovery.