The longest half-marathon I've ever run (literally)

I entered this race back in January and have really been looking forward to it since then. Trail running just sounded cool--I love running & racing and was looking forward to something a bit different. And having been a "city girl" for 5 years now, I'm appreciating the outdoors more and more these days. About 2 weeks after entering this race (and several others) I was struck by plantar fasciitis--dang.  What I'm trying to say is that I went into this race with very little running in the past 4 months. Luckily, I think trail races had a few positive attributes given my circumstances: 1) I was told to expect my pace to be much *slower* on the trail, 2) trails are soft, right? ;-)

Race Morning: 77 degrees and 65% humidity at the start. Mark and Stewart dropped me off at the Great Falls start line. We met another Belgian there (a sable Belgian Malinois who was rescued from a shelter in Baltimore) -- her Mom was also running the half marathon! Mark saw them on the drive to the finish and noticed her again, in a Subaru--of course!

Stewart and me at the start line

The race started with an easy loop at Great Falls park, thankfully on a fairly wide trail, as there was a lot of congestion with over 700 runners. Mark and Stewart saw me at the 2-mile mark.

At the start line (wave start)

Approximately 2 miles in--so far so good

There was an aid station at the start, we looped back there around mile 3. The next aid station was (supposedly) 6 miles north. Due to the heat and humidity, I was carrying gatorade and water (and a bunch of other stuff).

Once we left Great Falls, the trail turned to single track. It was beautiful, a carpet of leaves on the forest floor and a thick canopy above us. Once we were on the single track, it was pretty congested. The first log over the trail caused a real traffic jam--about 20 people standing and waiting to cross the log. It did thin out after that. Everyone walked up the real steep climbs, where the Potomac Heritage Trail had been eaten by the Potomac river, causing the trail to climb, steeply up, and then steeply back down. Everyone walked except for one guy who, annoyingly, passed everyone as they walked up and then proceeded to run extraordinarily slowly (I could walk faster than he was shuffling)--causing all the runners to have to pass him. The second hill he tried that I filled him in (for better or worse).

By mile 7.5, I had a hot spot on my big toe. I stopped at a wide opening and pulled out an awesome band-aid blister band aid over the bloody, raw hole on the top of my toe. What a weird spot to get a hot spot! Unfortunately, my stop left me towards the back of the pack with the super slow runners--and the same darn guy I had schooled on walking up hills! The aid station was *supposed* to be less than a mile  away, so I  figured I could run slow/walk fast until then. I was way ahead of schedule and even worried Mark wouldn't be at the finish line when I got there. If only I knew... Unfortunately, the slow runners were much more crowded together than the 11 minute-milers (me). It was so crowded that I couldn't see the ground in front of me. I should have just kept a meter or so in front of me, but I didn't. Sure enough, I didn't see a tree root and I went down pretty hard. Thankfully, the gal behind me stopped so I didn't cause a multi-runner pile up! My knee hurt, but I could tell nothing was broken or sprained. Just bloody.

Turns out that mile to the next aid station was the longest mile ever. It was approximately 3 miles! Thank goodness I had water--those without were hurting out loud. There were 2 creek crossings, which were fun and made me glad I wore my Gore-Tex running shoes. Others got more miserable when they got wet.

Once my Garmin ticked past 13.1 miles (a half marathon), I turned it around--I didn't want to see it again! Not knowing when I'd finish, or how long this race was going to be, I stopped to text Mark that I may be another 30 minutes or so??? The last 2 miles  sucked--I did some walking--I wasn't physically tired but the hot spot on my toe HURT and I really wanted to know how much further the finish was! It was mentally more challenging than physically.

By the last mile everyone around me was walking. The competitor in me kept-up a strong shuffle!

Finally, I saw the finish line! Mark and Stewart were there.

It was great to finish! My Garmin read 14.83 miles--darn near 15! Not shabby, given my lack of a running base. Everyone at the finish line was pointing at their Garmins in disbelief. I joked that we got more miles for our money.

Stewart was happy to see me. Mark had a bucket of water for him and he'd already gone through a couple Nalgene bottles full of water that morning. Stewie was HOT. I picked up some gatorade, snacks and my finisher T-shirt and took off my now bloody sock and put on the lovely, fresh, clean wool socks that Mark had brought to the finish line. Hooray! I also grabbed a paper towel and wiped off my bloody knee. Good to go! What a freaking great race! I can't wait to do some more trail running. :-)

Sweaty, dirty, and happy (me)--Stewart is just hot and wants to go to the AC

I finished 27/60 in my age division and 143/333 for women. I'm pretty pleased with my results and had a real blast. My Garmin track is below. Thanks for reading and Happy Trails.

 Garmin: