Northwest Trail Run 10k

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Northwest Trail Run 10k - Run10k

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

Issaquah, Washington
United States
Northwest Trail Runners
52F / 11C
Overcast

Total Time = 1h 22m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/

Pre-race routine:

This was my first trail race, so I was a little nervous. Fortunately I've run on Squak Mountain before, so I knew the course. I also knew my friend, Laura, would be there and I was going to meet some members of my Racygirls team; the group I'm running the Mt. Si Relay with next week. We got to the park without problem and there I found Laura talking to two other women. Lo and behold it was Tina and Vinette, two Racygirls! Small world, this trail running world is.

Event warmup:

Eric walked us out to the start line and gave us a course review. The course would be marked with markers and flags. There would be four flags on the side of the trail indicating the next turn. If the flags were on the left, you'd turn left at the next junction. At point X you would decide if you were going to do the 10k or the half marathon. I wanted to do the half marathon, but knew I should save my legs for the 10k. We started out at 9:32 and ran around Eric's son, then into the woods!

Run

1h 22m
6.21 miles
13m 12s min/mile

Comments:

It was a FUN race. I can't wait to do another one. Fortunately, I only have to wait a week to do the Mt. Si Relay! I took the camera that Roy got me for my birthday (specifically small enough so I could carry it on races) and snapped lots of pictures. Some are blurry, since I was running while snapping, but some are great. I just wanted to capture the beauty. (Obviously I am a hard core trail runner. All business here. Yup! Yesiree!)

What would you do differently?:

Hmmm. At this point, I wouldn't necessarily do anything differently because I'm still learning. I had a really good time, even if I was slow. I didn't hurt myself, I didn't fall, and I did NOT get lost (almost doesn't count).

Post race

Warm down:

I snapped a picture of Roy and kissed him, then turned to see if anyone was coming behind me (I wanted pics of my Racygirls coming out of the woods). I didn't see anyone so I walked around the park and stretched a lot. My back was really hurting and of course, my legs were tired, so I wanted to make sure to stretch WELL and cool down. Grabbed a 1/4 bagel and a few pretzels and some water, then headed back to the finish. About ten minutes after me Lisa emerged from the woods, so I snapped her picture and we laughed about the race. She snagged some food and we waited some more for Vinette and Tina. And we waited. Waited some more. I knew they weren't THAT far behind! Lisa went to her car to grab something and I heard her talking on her cell phone and saying to another lady "My friends got lost!" Uh oh! Fortunately they were just fine. They'd missed a turn and ended up back in Issaquah, but safe. That's one reason to ALWAYS carry a cell phone when you run trails! It's just WAY too easy to miss a turn. They called Lisa again a few minutes later and made arrangements to have her come find them. They did a MUCH longer race than we did! As we were driving out towards Issaquah we saw them running back towards the park and honked a few times, and made sure Lisa saw them (she did, she turned to go get them). Then we headed into Seattle to the Triathlon Expo!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The fact that I'm slow. Really big hills. Other people on the trail (who gave me an excuse not to push myself too hard...although my HRM may beg to differ).

Event comments:

What a BLAST! I can't wait to do my next trail race!

Profile Album

Last updated: 2007-04-14 12:00 AM

Running
01:22:00 \| 06.21 miles \| 13m 12s min/mile
Age Group:	0/
Overall:	0/
Performance:	Good
Average heart rate: 154 BPM Max heart rate: 174 BPM Slowest mile: 20:52 (ack!) Fastest mile: 10:19 (better)
Course:	The course was up Squak mountain. There is a total 1800 foot gain up to the radio towers and then to one of the summits, then back down. It's a BEAUTIFUL course! Seriously. The PNW just can't be beat when it comes to beauty! The course started on a semi-steep grade gravel path, ran around the race director's son, and then up into the well groomed paths of Squak Mountain. I'd run up here about four weeks prior, so I knew what to expect in the way of trails and windfall. We've had one HELL of a Winter in the PNW, so there were fallen trees everywhere. Fortunately, many volunteer hours had been spent clearing the paths of treefall! When we ran last month we had to climb over a few trees, but we didn't have to climb any trees today. The course climbed from 363 feet to 1974 feet at the highest point, at about mile 2.8. It took me a full 52 minutes to do that part of the course! I had started the race with Lisa, Vinette, and Tina but in the melee of all the runners at the start, and the singlepath trail, I lost them. I thought they were all ahead of me, but apparently they were all behind me. Green was the color of the day. I mean LOTS of green. We've had a lot of rain (of course) lately and everything was green. The trees had the pale budding green dotting their branches. Green moss clung to logs and branches with deeper green ferns growing out of the moss. Hanging moss, paler green, hung from branches. Green stinging nettles reached out to snag me a few times (little bastards), and the buds of green wildflowers promising new colors swelled along the path. The path was mostly singletrack with some wide open areas FULL of treefall (but blessedly clear for running). Rocks and roots taunted me, threatening to trip me, as I ran by them but I elluded the little buggers on this run! (This is amazing, considering that last Friday I fell on a perfectly flat trail in downtown Seattle and scraped up my hands, knees, thigh, and chin and am still sporting some nice deep bruises from THAT little adventure.) About 2.5 miles in I stopped to remove my vest and met Laura, who was running the half PLUS the 10k for a training run. (She's hard core. I'm still just a n00b.) We ran...okay, we climbed, together for awhile talking. Congratulations on the new job, Laura! Behind her came another lady who had run the last trail race and they caught up, and discovered that they had both run Orcas Island (I had "Hankreatitis" that day so had had to bow out...I was SO disappointed), and were running the same 50k later in the month! At mile 2.8 a water station awaited us like an oasis in a very hilly desert! I grabbed a cup of Gatorade and a few jelly beans and kept going. I lost Laura pretty soon, as she was running many more miles than me and was conserving her energy. (She is MUCH faster than me, all things being even.) The course climbed a few more times and then settled into "Ahhh...nice easy downhill" and "AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! roller coaster downhill" aka "Ohdearlordjesuspleasedon'tletmetripandfall downhill." This, my friends, is my favorite part. While I still haven't mastered the art of skipping down the "AIEEEE" parts with ease, I am way too tentative for fear of falling, I love the other downhills. I feel like a kid and it's all I can do to keep from screaming "Wheeeeeeeee!" as I bomb down a hill, leaping over rocks, sloshing through creeks, and jumping over mudbogs. It's SO Freaking Cool! At this point the pain and angst of the climb is forgotten and all I can think is "Wow! This is amazingly beautiful! Thank you Lord!" alternating with "I LOVE trail running!" As I rounded the corner to cross the road we started on Eric (race director) called out "Way to go Tory!" which was great. He's also race director, along with Teri Farrah, for the Seattle Street Scrambles (which are WAY too fun) and we've done LOTS of those and even volunteered a few times. I called out thanks, immediately started to head in the wrong direction, he corrected me and I ran to the finish to find the smiling face of my wonderful husband waiting for me! I'd figured about a 90 minute race, and my Garmin said I was right on! (I think my 'oh fish al' time was a little less.)
Keeping cool	Good	Drinking	Not enough

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Good
Mental exertion [1-5]	5
Physical exertion [1-5]	5
Good race?	Yes

Evaluation
Course challenge	Just right
Organized?	Yes
Events on-time?	Yes
Lots of volunteers?	Yes
Plenty of drinks?	Yes
Post race activities:	Average
Race evaluation [1-5]	5