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| 6:30 AM and 33F |
I was visiting my son
on Sunday, so I looked for a run for Saturday. Carina, my mentor/training lead
encouraged me to sign-up for the Saturday group that she runs with – The
Running Group in Folsom lead by Dave. Thankfully, Dave agreed to let me join
after asking a few important questions. Like – how long I have been running and
what is my longest distance and when was this. I ran with Carina the past two
Sundays for a 13-miler.
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| At Skunk Hollow before the run. |
Dave is training
runners for ultra-marathons…. hmmmm! What am I getting myself into? The run is
18-miles. Meeting time 6:30 AM at Sophia Parkway, 15 miles from where I live.
It’s 33F, I am wearing 4-layers of clothing. It’s amazing what they have now
for sports clothing, it is super light and warm plus a beanie, 2 layers of
socks, a short on inside and a long one that reaches my knees. I feel more
comfortable wearing shorts, I make up for it by wearing knee-high socks to keep
warm. I cut-up my protein/granola bars in pieces as was suggested by another
runner.
At that start I tried
to keep up with Carina, who was in the lead. But still her slowest pace, is not
even my fastest. My feet, thighs, and hands were damn cold. My thighs felt they
weigh a ton because they were frozen. I think it took a good 4 miles when they
finally began to thaw, but not all the way, it was cold all the way till mile
16. Trail runs are harder because of change of elevation, it is up and down and
up and down. But since it is in soft ground, a bit kinder on the knees. At a
creek crossing, I tried not to get wet, but fell hard anyway, sigh! It felt
even more cold.
At mile 6, I started
to slow down and could not keep up with Carina and the two guys. Just a few
feet behind me were other female runners. Suddenly, as I intended to slow down,
my legs pushed me forward, I thought, what? I better ask Carina about that. It
was weird.
As the female runners
behind me caught up, they asked how I was, I said I was just struggling (like
always). I ran behind Annalisa, Claudia and Hiromi. I was told we were on mile
10, that’s when I realized I had not been enough fuel to my run. By cutting up
the granola/protein bar, I was only eating a few pieces when I should have been
eating a bar every hour which is 150 calories per hour.
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| Sunrise |
At mile 12, we ran
into Grace and her friend they were doing a 12-mile Out-and-back (OAB) from
Sofia Parkway. We took a photo by the little creek lined up on top of a little
wood plank. Then off everyone went. I decided I would just take it slowly,
because my leg and thigh muscles were sore. Then I hear Grace and Claudia
calling. I tried to run faster. I do a lot of self-talk, telling myself, "Go on, Eve! One foot after the other". My nose was very runny, I had hunger pangs, my muscles were sore. But I kept moving forward.
Claudia is just a few
years older than me and she has run three (3) 50-mile races, that’s so
impressive. And here I am struggling through to make it 18. Claudia hang back
with me for the next 5 miles. Encouraging me, saying I could do it. Pulling me
saying, we run down, walk the uphill and pony trot the flat areas. If it were
not for Claudia, if I had been left alone I would have totally slowed down and
reach Sophia Parkway an hour later or even more. I am so appreciative of Claudia.
At home, I got a
message from Carina, congratulating me for finishing my longest run ever. She also
reminded me to ice my tired muscles. We also exchanged photos. Thank you Carina for inviting today!
What a great day! On
to the next!!!!!
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| Mile 16 and I still managed a smile. |
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