This morning I headed over to Ruston's Lincoln Parish Park to run the Hells Hills Half, leaving at 4:45am and hitching a ride in the Tahoe with Mack, Tom, JP, and Francine (meeting Lori and her daughter Madelyn and friend Nicole there). We had originally planned to camp, like last year, but with thunderstorms belting our area since Tuesday, we decided to forgo the wet/muddy mess of gear, kids, and dog, and I went solo.
This is a pre-race photo: Francine, me, Tom K, Mack, JP, Lori, Madelyn, and Nicole. Other friends were there (superspeedsters Tom L and Jacob), but we didn't get them in our group photo. This is the only photo I took all day because of the rain, I left my camera and phone in Mack's Tahoe so I didn't ruin them. Plus, I was there to RACE this trail, not run it leisurely, so there was no time for photo ops!
The run was rainy/misty most of the time, which helped keep the heat down a bit, but not the humidity of course. I needed a potty break at mile 3 (and it was tough to find privacy on the zig-zagging/switch-backing single track trail...), so I lost a couple minutes there waiting for other runners to pass so I could go. I felt awesome up through mile 6 when my toes went completely numb. They stayed that way for a few miles, off and on hurting along with the numbness, which was something new for me (perhaps my shoes were tied too tight?) Around mile 8 my ankles started to hurt, but not too badly, and I was happy to realize at that point that I hadn't had ANY joint tenderness or muscle soreness yet (which is something I've been battling for the past 4 weeks and been extremely frustrated over). Even with the toe and ankle issues though, I was making good time (I was aiming to beat my friend Amy's time of 2:30 from last year) until I hit mile 10 when major calf spasms started. I was upset because the 3 previous times I've had to deal with calf spasms they started at the 20-mile point of long runs or races, not at mile 10. I figured they would go away with some stretching and massage, but nothing I did worked to rid them. The spasms were constant (I would run 20-30 steps, then seize up and practically fall off the trail because I couldn't walk, let alone run), for the last 3 miles of the race, so I walked and hobbled and stopped to stretch a lot during those miles, losing a lot of time. I also had chills off and on during these last 3 miles (throughout my upper body), which was a very strange feeling and really concerned me. It sure wasn't cold out, especially since the blazing sun came out just in time for the last shade-less 1.5 mile loop around the lake (it had been blessedly overcast due to the rain the rest of the time), so I was worried I was dehydrated and/or overheated... meaning I just wanted to get to the finish line ASAP for ice cold cold water and Gatorade, but I couldn't get there fast enough. It was a little scary (especially when I felt like my vision was faltering a bit) and upsetting (I had been ahead of my goal time up until that last 3 miles), but it is was it is. I still had fun, I was still happy with my finish time, and I managed to win 1st place in my age group (winning a set of bamboo running socks and headband). I certainly missed my Sophie though - it was lonely in those woods without my trail buddy to talk to and sing ridiculous songs with!
 |
| Racers at the start (photo by Jeff Beck, Forge Racing director) |
 |
| Here's that final sunny shade-less mile and a half around the lake (Photo by Jeff Beck a couple days before the race) |
