soloman 25k trail race at pineland farms

two years ago i ran the pineland farms 25k trail race, and swore i would never do it again. we all know how that goes. i pretty much could copy and paste last years report to this one, i was just a few minutes faster this year. "what goes down apparently comes back up". yup.

i think i signed up for this race on thursday, of the week before the race. just coming off of the marathon, i wasnt sure exactly what my legs would want to do (although they really wanted to sit on the couch and be covered in ice, i chose the complete opposite and ran over 60 miles in the two weeks post race. shut up legs!). i also went back and forth as to whether i wanted to do the 25k or the 50k... ultimately i decided that i shouldnt push it, and went with the 25k. after registering, i went back and read my race report again. why? why did i read it? why did i register? (i secretly love torturing myself, clearly).

of course the bff was already registered and thankfully didnt convince me to switch the 50k (which was again thought of on saturday night). we made sure to bring all the neon, very stylish (our elite joggers uniforms of course!)

i had told her i would drive up at 6am to see the 50 milers off, but i decided to sleep instead. i woke up, threw some crap in my bag and took off, getting there around 8:30am and missing the 50k start (sorry sara!). bff and i complained (shocking) about being cold and our toes being numb (its MAY for crying out loud and it was about 45 degrees. wtf. of course we were still wearing flip flops... and the ONE day it was 75 degrees was on my marathon... no im not angry still...)

we hung out with the port racing team and eric the sherpa before figuring out what we were going to wear and heading out for a warm up jog. our toes began to get feeling again, and our choice of race wear changed (i was hoping to stay in my sweatpants and hoodie). we met up with the rest of our team... a bunch of crazy crow chicks just like ourselves! we chatted for a few minutes and took some pre race pics, sarah changed her outfit once more, and we watched as maddy came through, leading the women for the 50 miler. badass!

go maddy go! and ty too, hi ty! 

(*note, this is not my ty. you couldnt pay my ty enough to run 50 miles)

soon it was time for us to head to the start line. they read off the rules (which, surprise surprise, we talked through... pretty much dont get lost, right?) and they rang the cowbell to signal the start. just like in 2012, the first mile was weeeeeee so fast! yaaaay! i love trail running!!!! surprisingly, the first mile for each of my races (2012 and 2014) were both 8:45. weird.

sarah and i chatted it up for a bit, we continued flying through the 2nd mile at lightening trail running speed, and shortly after that we got mixed up in a crowd and separated a bit. i was feeling pretty good, not looking at my watch for times, just trying to stay upright and not fall down (or up) the hills. the day was already becoming a bit hot and i shed my long sleeve shirt pretty quickly into the race. the open fields were kinda breezy and cool which was refreshing as the woods were humid and quite warm.

i took my first gu around mile 3, and drank water at all of the aid stations. and these werent your normal race stations... which is why a) trail races rock (wait, what?) and b) ultras rock! yes! (oh boy...)

ALL THE SNACKS!

i dont train with all this yummy stuff but i figured oh well, what do i have to lose. and then id grab one or two pretzels, one sweedish fish, and a pringle. save it for the others, haha. so much fun to have all those options though, there were even boiled potatoes, soda, and salt pills!

the first part of the race is a mix of grassy field running and wooded trails, not very technical. i still, however, managed to roll my left ankle three times. i literally have nothing left to either of my ankles thanks to basketball, so it didnt hurt me, but it sucked in the moment anyway. i took my other gu before mile 9 and could feel that i was getting pretty dehydrated. i hadnt brought my handheld with me and i had not gatorade either, and before i came in through the race base, i pretty much hit the wall. my body didnt want to work anymore. 

i contemplated a DNF about a mile before getting through the race base and heading out for the back 5 miles. i knew what was coming in those 5 miles wasnt terrible, but i also knew that i didnt need this race for anything, not really even any sort of training run. my body was hot and tired and i just didnt feel like being out there. but coming through the base, where everyone (like 50 people) was cheering for you... it gave me an extra boost of energy, and i decided to keep going. i threw my maine coast marathon shirt off to eric and yelled at him that i would kill him if he lost it, and took off onto the last stretch.

after crossing the road, you run directly thru an aid station. i grabbed 2 cups of water, some more pretzels and pringles (2 each) and took off. i just wanted to get thru this. the back part is pretty fast, with some good hills in the last 5k (and there are signs at each k, which is kinda cool even though im used to mile markers). with what i thought to be about 4.5 miles left to go in the race, i had some freak burst of energy and took off, passing a group of people ahead of me down a few hills. i looked at my watch and saw 7:15 at one point and decided i should probably slow down. it ended up being my fastest mile out there for the day, but i fully regretted turning those wheels on with so much of the race left to go (and the upcoming hills). coming into the last 5k i had stopped sweating and could brush the salt off my face. an aid station appeared suddenly which was fantastic, and yet another one came right before the last kilometer. at that last aid station you can see where the finish is, but you have to run around a huge field to get there. ugh. i wanted to walk so bad, but i ran as hard as i could (which wasnt great. my legs felt like lead). as i came in through the last little stretch of woods before the finish, sara ran past me out on her last 5 of the 50k. i think she was in a bit of a daze because i literally had to almost jump in front of her screaming to get her to see me. i high fived her, and i took off for the finish line.

i looked up to see the clock, and was very happy seeing 2:16, an 18 minute PR. i knew i had many miles out in the woods that were in the 9s, maybe 10s, but i also knew that i didnt have any 11s like had the previous time i ran this race. id almost like to say i actually really enjoyed most of this run... clearly ill most likely be back again next year. (and were already planning on going to pineland to train on some of the trails... its good cross training, right?) i was very sore the next day, and i almost thought my legs might be broken in places i didnt think you could break (trails work way different areas than roads!) but i had a nice shake out run on tuesday and am now back to normal (well, define normal)...

chatting it up with theresa, one of the "BATshit crazy" teammates

team "BATshit crazy" post race

a little banged up, lots of smiles, and lots of food
(and we came in 7th place!)

and a HUGE congrats to maddy, winning the 50 miler. seriously, so freaking badass. (and she makes it look so damn easy! and im pretty sure she decided to run it the night before. you all think im the crazy one?!)

my times were certainly better this year, but its fun to see the comparison... how i managed to run the same pace for the first mile is beyond me! my garmin was a bit off this year for some reason (its been doing that lately), and i also forgot to shut my watch off for 2 minutes post race, oops.

another last year/this year comparison... i pretty much hated all things hills and trails in 2012.

who hits the wall at mile 8?!

and again... 2012 with sara (who ran the 50k this year)....

it took us two years to get back, but alas... smart life choices.

...2014 with bff...

this race brain washes you out in the woods i think. zombies or something.

same small cowbell, empty post race water bottle, no tshirt

official time:

2:16:32

8:47 pace

14/68 age group

107/390 overall