Another new race, another new distance and another new PR! Ill take it! On August 23rd I conquered a new race of a brand new format to my running resume, trail racing. Last spring I signed up for the Lost Lake trail race in Seward Alaska, and for the next 4 months I told people I was going to run 15, 16, or 17ish miles...I wasn't really sure! I honestly wasn't sure until I hit the finish line (It was 16ish if your wondering).
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| Ready to Run! |
Back to the start, my husband, sister, nephew and I drove down to Moose Pass Friday night after swim practice. We settled into our friends cabin and slept for a few short hours before getting up to make the rest of the trip down to Seward. Sleep did not come easy, as per usual before a race, and was even more tough after my sister knocked on our door to let us know it was time to leave. I jumped out of bed absolutely freaked out that I overslept then had to inform her that her watch was off, she was an hour early! Sleep did not come easy after that adrenaline rush but everything went smoothly and we got down to the shuttle parking lot for the race with no issues.
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| So Amazing! |
After getting to the race start, we had to bus shuttle about 30 minutes, we had some issues with the race folks giving out my sisters bib to someone else, hopefully someone a lot faster than us! But after that we were off! The trail started off with a gradual winding incline through the trees. It was a beautiful trail and a nice cool morning. The race organizers did a fantastic job marking every half mile with a child who is battling cystic fibrosis to remind runners what this race is really all about.
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| Sisters |
3 to 4 miles in we began to glimpse extraordinary vistas of the surrounding mountain ranges, it was just a small view of what was to come. We "power-hiked" the first 5 miles, slow enough to still chat but fast enough that I was breathing hard and sweating like mad. By mile 5 the accent leveled off into rolling hills with alpine lakes. At this point we were able to break into a run that was slow enough to pick our way around the rock trails and still have time to look at the amazing views of nature all around us.
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| Beautiful |
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| Breathtaking Views |
We stopped at the river around mile 7 where the boy scouts had camped all night to purify water for the racers. I decided to ask a medic for a band-aid for a hot spot on my heel and when I took my sock off most of the skin on my heel came off as well, whoops! Thankfully it didn't feel as bad as it looked so we were off again after applying some good moleskin. Mile 8 had one more mile long incline in store for us and by this point my legs were not running up any amount of incline so we power hiked that section again. By mile 8 we also lost our sunny brilliant day to an intense fog that surrounded us and made you feel like you were the only person on the mountain.
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| Lost Lake, Alaska |
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| Thanks Boy Scouts! |
By mile 9 we heard the first elite runners coming up behind us (they start people who can do the race in under 3 hours later in the morning). We tried our best to hear them coming and jump to the side and cheer them on. We were especially excited when we heard our running coach coming in as the 3rd female. Kristi is absolutely amazing, I wish I took a photo of her!
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| Always time for a selfie |
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| Remember to look down at the trail - don't trip! |
The last 6 miles were slightly downhill and involved lots of maneuvering rocks, streams and jumping out of the way of the fast folks who were barreling down the mountain. We did all of this while working hard not to trip or even worse, fall of the cliff that was often only a couple feet away.
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| Our Support Crew - excited about his first time on a school bus |
We finished the race 4 hours and 34 minutes after we started, completely exhausted but very happy. It was an amazing race in a beautiful area and I am so glad I signed up for it!
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| Our support crew needed a break :) |
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