Catalina State Park 11 mile (10.75, really) Trail Race

This was my second running of this race, although the first time I did it, the course was in reverse (actually, this race was called 'Reverse the Course'). When I ran it back in April, my time was 1:46:48 (and I was second in my age group!) Today, it was 1:44:06. I'm not sure if the course was the same distance before and just got measured a little more accurately this time, but it seemed the same to me (it starts on a little stretch of pavement and ends on pavement and the trails were the same.) We did the Canyon Loop trail, Nature Loop trail and Bridle trail, all times two. The 5.5 milers just did one set of the same trails.

Here I am with my friend Steve right before the start:

Here we are getting ready to line up behind the new Everyone Runs start balloon:

It was so nice and cool at the start, which was 6:30am, and besides a little bottleneck here and there along the trails, it went really smooth. I had a great race, with no real complaints but some heavy breathing (my allergies, or just challenging?) It was really fun. I ran behind a gal for a while that was doing her first trail run ever! (she is in the top picture) I passed her at some point, but she passed me in the end! Some people are just naturals on the trails. The CSP trails are only true singletrack in a few spots, so it is fairly easy to pass. There is plenty of uphill (2 big hills that you have to do twice!) but also some great, screaming downhill, which is so much fun. The trail is fairly wide, but boy, is it sandy! Looks and feels like a sandbox most of the time:Here is my friend Shari coming into the finish. Shari was 4th in her age group! Shari is currently training for the El Tour 109 mile bike race in November and the Tucson Marathon in December. Wow!

Everyone Runs had Robek's smoothies (yum!) and beans, eggs and tortillas for the after-race breakfast, so I scarfed a bunch of food (sans eggs, I like mine very well, well done) and water down and headed over to the awards ceremony.

I won 1st place in my age group! Wahoo!!! I just about fell out when I heard my name announced. Very cool. We received beer glasses like we did in April (although I don't drink, so they'll just sit on my dresser, looking pretty). Here I am with Mary (left) and Rachel (center), who both placed in their age groups (Rachel 1st, Mary 2nd) as well:

I finished 43rd out of 89 total in the 11 (10.75) mile race and 1st in my age group out of 5 total (it was a pretty small race - the 5.5 mile option got more people -179 to be exact). My friends Steve and Martinho placed 4th and 2nd in their age groups, respectively. David from Sierra Vista, who I met at the BPR trail races, was 2nd in his age group. David, if you are reading, OP50 registration starts Monday, September 29th and is expected to sell out in 4 hours or less! Jump on it and good luck! My new friend Julie is suspecting a stress fracture on her foot, so she opted out of the race. You were missed!

Congratulations everyone on a fine race!

Next up: tomorrow morning, I'll head out to Mt. Hopkins (near Mt. Wrightson) down South of Tucson to do a little run (hike?) with the Tucson Trail Runners. Not sure what my legs will feel like after today (I'm trying to work up the courage to do an ice bath) but I thought it sounded like fun. I won't go all the way to the top (23 miles!); instead, I'll turn around at the gate at the end of the dirt road, which will be around 15 miles. Just 15 miles, unless I get some burst of energy, which I highly doubt will happen. I'll probably hike up and run down, but I didn't want to miss it. The views are supposed to be great! Plus, Troy was planning on doing it after doing the Flagstaff Marathon today, so I figured I should try and do it after an 11 mile race!

I treated myself to a wonderful facial afterwards, which was great. I'll be getting a massage on Monday, which I'll really need after this weekend! My calves and shins are seriously tight right now.

And finally, a little quote that fits me well today:

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt