This was my first experience with the "joy" :) that is the Furrow Euro Cross Country Race. Clint and some of the other team members (thanks, Mike, for the e-mail plugs!! :)) had been talking about this race for the past few weeks and I thought...why not?! It sure sound(ed!) like fun :). Stream crossings, hay bales...ingredients for a fun race, right? Seeing as my running focus has been more on FUN (and general fitness of course) and less on speed, I figured I could safely slow down and navigate my way through any obstacles without compromising the fetus.
And then...I saw the forecast for the Saturday of the race. The first snow of the year? Thirty degree temps? Sick.
Clint woke me up that Saturday morning and opened the blinds in our bedroom. Even though I am blind as a bat in the morning until I put in my contacts, I could see the vast white-ness that waited for us outside as I lay in denial under my warm covers in the snuggly bed. After refusing for a few minutes, I got up and ate a banana and got ready to go. Thank goodness most of my running clothes still fit...I pulled on a pair of my favorite winter tights that I've worn the past few years and my lavender Often Running top. Apparently someone (ANDY!) made a comment to my husband about me getting visibly bigger though...so clearly this shirt won't be fitting much longer ;). I may have to talk to you about getting a different shirt or two to borrow for a few months, Mitch :).
We left our apartment around 7:15 and made our way on the snowy roads to El Paso. Shout out to Clint for driving us safely on the nasty roads. Shout out to Mazda for making our new sweet ride...we recently got rid of my dying car and got an AWD SUV (something i've never owned or even driven before) and it seemed to be just great on the roads.
We arrived at the farm where the race was held a little over an hour before start time...perfecto. Plenty of time for us to pick up our bibs and for Clint to get in a good "warm up" with some other teammates while I continued my own style of "warm up"--sitting in the car with the heat on until the last possible minute :). We were informed that the stream crossings had been taking out of the race because of the fact that the water level was very high and it was likely not safe for all participants to attempt to cross. This news made me feel a lot better about my decision to run. Really, the water was the biggest concern...with my off-balance-self, I was worried about falling into the water and getting soaked and frozen. Probably not the best choice for a pregnant individual.
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| Do we HAVE to do this?! |
About 8 minutes prior to the start, we made our way to the starting line. Clint told me that when he ran one loop of the course as his warm-up, it was kind of hard to see at times due to the blowing snow. But, as he pointed out, I wouldn't be winning so there would always be someone to follow...so I would be fine. Whew ;).
It was fun to see Mitch there to support us at the starting line as well as the other team members and area runners who had come out for the crazy "fun." We snapped a few pictures, danced around to keep warm (maybe that was just me) and listened to the race director describe the course a bit. Two laps...no stream crossings...some hills/hay bales/general fun...
After a blow of his whistle and a gunshot...we were off! Over half of the field quickly ran up the first hill in front of me and I did my best to brush off my competitive thoughts of, "There are too many people in front of you! Hurry UP!"
The cold air made my lungs burn a bit as I set off on my way on the first lap. Talk about a very rude all-or-nothing start to winter running! The first mile wasn't too bad, all things considered and my watch beeped in 9:21. I'll take it. My only *very-loose* "goal" was to stay under 10-minute miles. As I neared the start/finish line and the barn where the end of lap one was, I saw Clint, Andy and Paul already well on their way on lap two....looking good, as always.
Running over the wooden structure (I don't remember where exactly it was in the loop, other than that it was toward the first half of each loop) was a bit precarious. Running UP wasn't as big of a deal as running DOWN...there was a rubber mat on the DOWN side that was quite slippery. On my second pass-through, there were some high school kids behind me that thought it was pretty awesome to slip and slide around (I am not denying the fact that it looked like fun ;))...only they all started falling and I was pretty sure one was going to take me out. I sprinted as hard as I could down that darn thing as visions of sprawling out on my belly danced through my head. Thankfully, I made it safely down and soldiered on. I looked down at my watch and saw that I was nearing the 2-mile mark and that my pace was dangerously close to 10 minutes. I picked it up until mile 2 clicked off in 9:59. Whew. Just under my "goal" ;).
After two miles were done...I felt kinda done as well ;). Trudging through the snow/slush/yuck was wearing me out and breathing in the cold with my already decreased lung capacity was flat exhausting for this mama-to-be (WIMP!! :)). I rounded a turn shortly after the 2-mile point up to my favorite part of the course: the area with the pine trees! Here the footing was more solid/sure (because of the bed of pine needles on the ground!) and the snow falling off of the trees was just plain beautiful. At this point I was trailing two people, a man and a woman, who I had been trading places with throughout much of the race. I would pass them on either a flat portion or an uphill and they would pass me on the downhills (I was probably overly-cautious on some of the slippery downward slopes!). I made up my mind here, though, that I would be passing them once and for all by the end of the race :).
I entered my least favorite part of the course, the switch-backs toward the end of the loop. This part would be fun...if I didn't happen to be carrying around an extra chunk of weight+a tiny fetus. On this portion of the race during the first loop, Merlin Anderson passed me with a verbal, "You be careful!" I remember seeing him turning around to check on me too. Nice guy :). Mile 3 ticked off in 9:41 and the finish line was in sight! I quickly made my move on the two that I had chosen to pass before the end of the race and successfully passed them as they chatted (him: "I'm really glad we did this race today. Thanks for coming out with me." Her: *silence* HA!). I fought my way up the final hill (cruel!) and crossed the finish in 29:58 (according to my watch...but the clock time had me at 29:40)...just under 30 minutes which is what I was hoping to be able to do. Hooray!
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| Ok, ok...it was a little fun ;) |
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| OR/Vitesse Runners! |
Baby's 8th race...success. And, we got a sweet soup mug to show for our efforts/3rd place in AG! Later I had Clint check on how many were in my (large-span!) age group of 30-39. I was expecting 3 ;). There were actually 7!
Big thanks to Mitch for coming out and supporting us and for taking some great pictures. Thanks to the rest of the teammates for coming out and running this fun (crazy!) race! Thanks to Adidas for the great gear.
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