Natural Bridge Caverns Trail Half Marathon 2013 race report.
I'm very delinquent in posting this race report.
Some time back in early January, I was updating my list of when events are, and thought, "Ohyeah, Pam is doing some trail run at Natural Bridge Caverns, I should put that event on my list." I found a webpage for it, and it turned out that it was happening ON MY BIRTHDAY.
I'd never done a race on my birthday, but was always so jealous of people who did, so I mailed Pam and asked if she'd mind if I barged in on her event and tagged along and ran a birthday race. She generously said she didn't mind, and also pointed out that there was an optional zipline. I LOVE an optional zipline! So I signed up, and got us both discounted zipline/Canopy Challenge (though I had no idea what that was) (Pam wasn't planning on ziplining if she went alone, so just decided to add it on when I jumped in), and then put thoughts about this race on the back burner, because I had 9 billion other things going on.
First there was my fall back in December and the resulting bruised rib which had been plaguing me ever since, making my runs painful and very slow. Then the Bandera 50k, which killed my quads for nearly a week after, and after which I felt even slower than I had with the bruised ribs (which were feeling pretty good by Bandera).
And then work. We were right in the middle of moving from 6 buildings into our brand new, just built building. It's a beautiful building, but the actual move required a ton of work. Normally my job is very 8am-5pm (well, 7:30am-4:30pm), and not only is it never over 40 hours a week, but we're not ALLOWED to work more than 40 hours a week. Except during this time, major crunch time. I was working 9-16 hours a day, and both days of the weekend, and it was all lifting, carrying computers, hauling heavy stuff, crawling under desks to set up computers, pushing things.. very physical, very exhausting.
The days before the Natural Bridge Caverns half marathon, I worked 16 hours on Friday and 12 hours on Saturday. I got out of work in time to cram food in my mouth and fall into bed by 10pm on Saturday, exhausted and dehydrated and feeling like crap.
So.. yeah, happy birthday! I got up at 3:45am, got ready, we picked up Pam (Matt had decided to do the race, too), and we drove the almost 2 hours down to Natural Bridge Caverns. Got there and picked up our packets and then hid in the car to avoid the upper 40 degree temperatures, ducking out periodically to use the bathroom.
Soon it was time to head to the pre-race meeting in the parking lot, to learn about the most exciting part of this race.. starting in the cave! We learned that we would be lined up by race number, which was based on a time we'd submitted when we signed up for the race. Now let me tell you a little about that time submission. It asked for "1 mile pace". That's all it said. It didn't specify if that's your road pace, trail pace, 1 mile time trial pace, standard average pace for a marathon, for a 5k, nothing at all. Just "1 mile pace". So I put my time if I were running 1 mile for time. Evidently either I misinterpreted it, or everyone else did, because the bib numbers started at 500, and I was number 510. Crap.
But I dutifully lined up 10th in line, with so many people who looked much faster behind me, and we trekked down into the cave. The cave was really neat. But a little scary. It was a steep downhill into the cave, and the ground was wet, and so it was very slick in places. That made me concerned for my safety as we were running. It was also very low-ceilinged, which made me concerned for everyone else's safety, though I, of course, was fine (hurray for me and Pam and our midgetness!). It was also very warm. And humid. Evidently it's mid 70s with humidity in the 90s all the time in the cave.
Once we got down to where the start line was, we got our numbered line in order, and then we did some sample cheering for a promotional video they were making about this race. 30 seconds is a long time to try to cheer enthusiastically for no real reason. And then it was go-time!
It was a time-trial start, and the first two people to go were the Welsch sisters, tiny and super fast, then another guy, then Matt. Then frighteningly few other people before it was my turn. As I got to the front of the line, the woman in charge of timing told me to walk forward until she said, then start running. I did so, and she said go, and I started running! There was a camera right at the start line, also for promotional footage, and we were told to cheer or something as we passed it, so as I ran by, I said, "It's my birthday!" and was greeted by a chorus of "Happy birthday!"s from behind me.
So I was happy to be started to a flurry of birthday greetings, and super excited to be running in a cave. The ground was pretty dry through this section, and it started out pretty flat. I imagine if you were claustrophobic, this wouldn't have been all that pleasant, because the walls were very close to you, and the ceiling very low, but I found it amazing. The girl behind me was pretty close behind, so I commented on how amazing this was, and she agreed.
We came to a mandatory walk section, where you were required to walk and no passing was allowed, so I settled into a fast walk, then picked it back up again when that section was over. Then we entered into a big cathedral sort of cavern, and another walk-no-pass section. They'd warned us there would be a camera and that the flash would probably kill our night vision, so I was ready for that. This section was steep, so I used the handrail to pull myself up a bit. As we came up to the photographer, the guy in front of me went the wrong way, despite the race director's assurances that it would be impossible to go the wrong way in the race. This guy was out to prove him wrong. But the photographer yelled at him, and he corrected himself before going too far the wrong way. Fortunately they corrected him before I attempted to follow him the wrong way.
Running out of a cave! Except this was a mandatory walk section..
Some of us were clustered together on the walk section, so we discussed how the walk sections were kinda nice, because then you didn't have to actually make a decision as to whether or not you were going to walk the steep parts. Decision made for you!
Of course, then we got to the end of the walk-no-pass section, and it was still a pretty steep uphill, so you had to decide anyway, and I decided to run it. And then there was light ahead, and we emerged from the cave!
And for all those words up there, the part in the cave was only like 4 minutes of my race. But it was truly a unique and wonderful experience, and was worth the price of admission.
And now we were outside! And it was cooooold going from humid 70s to dry 40s.
We ran out into the parking lot, and then out the road we'd driven in on, out of the park. It was looking like it was going to be all road all the time, but then we turned off into some grassland, rocky trail.
I don't even remember this photographer, maybe because I was staring at the ground.
And now, having spent so many words talking about before the race and the first 4 minutes of the race, I will spend very few talking about the next 10 or so miles. I'll sum up:
- I should not have been number 510. Everyone in the entire world passed me. It was humbling and embarrassing.
- My legs and entire body were tired from working and hauling, and I was dehydrated and just not really into the whole thing.
- This race had the most varied terrain of any trail run I've ever done. It had asphalt, it had dry grass field, it had gravel, it had bare rock, it had giant broken up rock, it had sections of giant pieces of mulch, and inexplicably it had two sections of bright green, lush grass next to a creek bed. As such, your mind rarely got bored, but you could never settle in and kinda zone out.
- I drank far too little, and kept forgetting to eat. I carried my handheld rather than my water pack, and I never refilled my bottle, and it wasn't empty when I finished. Not good.
- The older of the two fast sisters, along with one of the super fast guys, took a wrong turn and did 3 extra miles, and still ended up finishing the race and not having a horrible crying fit on a curb, as I would have done.
That about sums up the bulk of the race. There were two significant hills, one of which was pretty darn cruel, but I ran up that stupid hill, because even though everyone is faster than me, I can climb a stupid hill. I even passed a guy who'd just passed me as he walked up the hill, and he commented on how strong I was.
This hill is much worse than it looks. That's the guy I passed walking back there.
Finally in the last few miles, I started to feel a little better, and picked up the pace some. Maybe it was just knowing that I was near the end. I started passing some people back, and actually pushing myself a bit. For the bulk of the run, sadly, despite it being my birthday, I really just wasn't having a good time. I just couldn't let go of all the people passing me, and how tired I was, even though I tried to toss out a mental, "Yay, it's my birthday and I'm running!" every once in a while. Just wasn't present. But in those last miles, I smiled more and enjoyed running on my birthday.
I was especially smiley when I realized that, despite my belief that we ran back in the same way we came out, on the park road, and we still hadn't gotten to the stupid park road, that we did NOT come back in the same way. Suddenly we emerged from trail into a parking lot, and I recognized that we were just right around the corner from the finish line. I decided I was going to give everything I had left for that last bit, and started hauling ass to the finish line, passing several people who'd passed me earlier.
As I rounded the corner and could see the finish line, I saw Matt up ahead. He started cheering wildly for me, and then the race announcer said something about how Amy was approaching the finish line, and it was her birthday, and let's wish her a happy birthday. And then he, with his microphone, and everyone standing around the finish line area, sang happy birthday to me, as I crossed the finish line.
So while it wasn't my favorite or most successful race ever, the very beginning and the very end were amazing, and made the whole thing worth it.
I got my finisher's geode slice keychain and a giant hug from Matt, and then we drank water while waiting for Pam, who had given a more realistic and sane 1 mile pace time, to finish. She wasn't far behind me, and in fact had heard the happy birthday song from out on the course, and then we were all done!
Celebrating our doneness on top of a dinosaur, why not.
I never looked at my watch, even afterward, and when I changed clothes, I put my Garmin in the car without looking at it. The results say I ran a 2:08:29, which is actually significantly faster than I felt like I was running, which got me 9th in my age group. So 8 people passed me from my age group alone out there. Extrapolate that to all the other age groups and genders.. (Most of my miles were in the 10s, some high, some low, then my last full mile was a 9:42, and my last 0.37 was at an 8:17 pace. Ha. Nice and even there.)
Meanwhile Matt ran an amazing race, and got 2nd in his age group, and a neat geode slice award!
2nd in his age group!
We celebrated our finish by first eating our weight in sausage (that was mostly Pam, but she doesn't weigh much anyway), and then ziplining!
Okay, actually the ziplining was a little disappointing. It was two lines, not an impressive distance off the ground, not impressively far, and not at all scenic. But still pretty fun, if over very, very quickly.
But theeeeeeeen.. Canopy Challenge! I had no idea what it was, but it was a ropes course, and you can just climb around on it to your heart's content. I wasn't sure how my body would react.. I've never really had a problem with heights, but I've also never tried walking across a thin single rope before. Turns out, if I'm attached to a harness, I'm just fine with it!
Canopy Challenge! That top level was pretty high..
We had a lot of fun, and Matt, who doesn't like heights, was the bravest of all of us, and had no problem with it. We climbed our way all the way to the top and then made our way back down again, and called it good.
Best part of my birthday!
Then a fun road trip back home, stopping at Buc-ee's to gawk, because that's what one does, and a successful birthday experience.
And I'm glad that the day was overall fun, because then I called my boss, who'd assured me that I wouldn't need to come in on my birthday, and found out that, indeed, they desperately needed help, and I should come in on my birthday. But Matt, who is the best husband in the world and a trooper, came in with me, and we spent the rest of my birthday together, even if it was at work, crawling under desks and hauling boxes.
I'd definitely do that run again, hopefully in better physical and emotional shape. The cave part was short, but amazing, and in a better frame of mind, I would have enjoyed the rest of the run, too. But I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I got to run on my birthday!
Some time back in early January, I was updating my list of when events are, and thought, "Ohyeah, Pam is doing some trail run at Natural Bridge Caverns, I should put that event on my list." I found a webpage for it, and it turned out that it was happening ON MY BIRTHDAY.
I'd never done a race on my birthday, but was always so jealous of people who did, so I mailed Pam and asked if she'd mind if I barged in on her event and tagged along and ran a birthday race. She generously said she didn't mind, and also pointed out that there was an optional zipline. I LOVE an optional zipline! So I signed up, and got us both discounted zipline/Canopy Challenge (though I had no idea what that was) (Pam wasn't planning on ziplining if she went alone, so just decided to add it on when I jumped in), and then put thoughts about this race on the back burner, because I had 9 billion other things going on.
First there was my fall back in December and the resulting bruised rib which had been plaguing me ever since, making my runs painful and very slow. Then the Bandera 50k, which killed my quads for nearly a week after, and after which I felt even slower than I had with the bruised ribs (which were feeling pretty good by Bandera).
And then work. We were right in the middle of moving from 6 buildings into our brand new, just built building. It's a beautiful building, but the actual move required a ton of work. Normally my job is very 8am-5pm (well, 7:30am-4:30pm), and not only is it never over 40 hours a week, but we're not ALLOWED to work more than 40 hours a week. Except during this time, major crunch time. I was working 9-16 hours a day, and both days of the weekend, and it was all lifting, carrying computers, hauling heavy stuff, crawling under desks to set up computers, pushing things.. very physical, very exhausting.
The days before the Natural Bridge Caverns half marathon, I worked 16 hours on Friday and 12 hours on Saturday. I got out of work in time to cram food in my mouth and fall into bed by 10pm on Saturday, exhausted and dehydrated and feeling like crap.
So.. yeah, happy birthday! I got up at 3:45am, got ready, we picked up Pam (Matt had decided to do the race, too), and we drove the almost 2 hours down to Natural Bridge Caverns. Got there and picked up our packets and then hid in the car to avoid the upper 40 degree temperatures, ducking out periodically to use the bathroom.
Soon it was time to head to the pre-race meeting in the parking lot, to learn about the most exciting part of this race.. starting in the cave! We learned that we would be lined up by race number, which was based on a time we'd submitted when we signed up for the race. Now let me tell you a little about that time submission. It asked for "1 mile pace". That's all it said. It didn't specify if that's your road pace, trail pace, 1 mile time trial pace, standard average pace for a marathon, for a 5k, nothing at all. Just "1 mile pace". So I put my time if I were running 1 mile for time. Evidently either I misinterpreted it, or everyone else did, because the bib numbers started at 500, and I was number 510. Crap.
But I dutifully lined up 10th in line, with so many people who looked much faster behind me, and we trekked down into the cave. The cave was really neat. But a little scary. It was a steep downhill into the cave, and the ground was wet, and so it was very slick in places. That made me concerned for my safety as we were running. It was also very low-ceilinged, which made me concerned for everyone else's safety, though I, of course, was fine (hurray for me and Pam and our midgetness!). It was also very warm. And humid. Evidently it's mid 70s with humidity in the 90s all the time in the cave.
Once we got down to where the start line was, we got our numbered line in order, and then we did some sample cheering for a promotional video they were making about this race. 30 seconds is a long time to try to cheer enthusiastically for no real reason. And then it was go-time!
It was a time-trial start, and the first two people to go were the Welsch sisters, tiny and super fast, then another guy, then Matt. Then frighteningly few other people before it was my turn. As I got to the front of the line, the woman in charge of timing told me to walk forward until she said, then start running. I did so, and she said go, and I started running! There was a camera right at the start line, also for promotional footage, and we were told to cheer or something as we passed it, so as I ran by, I said, "It's my birthday!" and was greeted by a chorus of "Happy birthday!"s from behind me.
So I was happy to be started to a flurry of birthday greetings, and super excited to be running in a cave. The ground was pretty dry through this section, and it started out pretty flat. I imagine if you were claustrophobic, this wouldn't have been all that pleasant, because the walls were very close to you, and the ceiling very low, but I found it amazing. The girl behind me was pretty close behind, so I commented on how amazing this was, and she agreed.
We came to a mandatory walk section, where you were required to walk and no passing was allowed, so I settled into a fast walk, then picked it back up again when that section was over. Then we entered into a big cathedral sort of cavern, and another walk-no-pass section. They'd warned us there would be a camera and that the flash would probably kill our night vision, so I was ready for that. This section was steep, so I used the handrail to pull myself up a bit. As we came up to the photographer, the guy in front of me went the wrong way, despite the race director's assurances that it would be impossible to go the wrong way in the race. This guy was out to prove him wrong. But the photographer yelled at him, and he corrected himself before going too far the wrong way. Fortunately they corrected him before I attempted to follow him the wrong way.
Running out of a cave! Except this was a mandatory walk section..
Some of us were clustered together on the walk section, so we discussed how the walk sections were kinda nice, because then you didn't have to actually make a decision as to whether or not you were going to walk the steep parts. Decision made for you!
Of course, then we got to the end of the walk-no-pass section, and it was still a pretty steep uphill, so you had to decide anyway, and I decided to run it. And then there was light ahead, and we emerged from the cave!
And for all those words up there, the part in the cave was only like 4 minutes of my race. But it was truly a unique and wonderful experience, and was worth the price of admission.
And now we were outside! And it was cooooold going from humid 70s to dry 40s.
We ran out into the parking lot, and then out the road we'd driven in on, out of the park. It was looking like it was going to be all road all the time, but then we turned off into some grassland, rocky trail.
I don't even remember this photographer, maybe because I was staring at the ground.
And now, having spent so many words talking about before the race and the first 4 minutes of the race, I will spend very few talking about the next 10 or so miles. I'll sum up:
- I should not have been number 510. Everyone in the entire world passed me. It was humbling and embarrassing.
- My legs and entire body were tired from working and hauling, and I was dehydrated and just not really into the whole thing.
- This race had the most varied terrain of any trail run I've ever done. It had asphalt, it had dry grass field, it had gravel, it had bare rock, it had giant broken up rock, it had sections of giant pieces of mulch, and inexplicably it had two sections of bright green, lush grass next to a creek bed. As such, your mind rarely got bored, but you could never settle in and kinda zone out.
- I drank far too little, and kept forgetting to eat. I carried my handheld rather than my water pack, and I never refilled my bottle, and it wasn't empty when I finished. Not good.
- The older of the two fast sisters, along with one of the super fast guys, took a wrong turn and did 3 extra miles, and still ended up finishing the race and not having a horrible crying fit on a curb, as I would have done.
That about sums up the bulk of the race. There were two significant hills, one of which was pretty darn cruel, but I ran up that stupid hill, because even though everyone is faster than me, I can climb a stupid hill. I even passed a guy who'd just passed me as he walked up the hill, and he commented on how strong I was.
This hill is much worse than it looks. That's the guy I passed walking back there.
Finally in the last few miles, I started to feel a little better, and picked up the pace some. Maybe it was just knowing that I was near the end. I started passing some people back, and actually pushing myself a bit. For the bulk of the run, sadly, despite it being my birthday, I really just wasn't having a good time. I just couldn't let go of all the people passing me, and how tired I was, even though I tried to toss out a mental, "Yay, it's my birthday and I'm running!" every once in a while. Just wasn't present. But in those last miles, I smiled more and enjoyed running on my birthday.
I was especially smiley when I realized that, despite my belief that we ran back in the same way we came out, on the park road, and we still hadn't gotten to the stupid park road, that we did NOT come back in the same way. Suddenly we emerged from trail into a parking lot, and I recognized that we were just right around the corner from the finish line. I decided I was going to give everything I had left for that last bit, and started hauling ass to the finish line, passing several people who'd passed me earlier.
As I rounded the corner and could see the finish line, I saw Matt up ahead. He started cheering wildly for me, and then the race announcer said something about how Amy was approaching the finish line, and it was her birthday, and let's wish her a happy birthday. And then he, with his microphone, and everyone standing around the finish line area, sang happy birthday to me, as I crossed the finish line.
So while it wasn't my favorite or most successful race ever, the very beginning and the very end were amazing, and made the whole thing worth it.
I got my finisher's geode slice keychain and a giant hug from Matt, and then we drank water while waiting for Pam, who had given a more realistic and sane 1 mile pace time, to finish. She wasn't far behind me, and in fact had heard the happy birthday song from out on the course, and then we were all done!
Celebrating our doneness on top of a dinosaur, why not.
I never looked at my watch, even afterward, and when I changed clothes, I put my Garmin in the car without looking at it. The results say I ran a 2:08:29, which is actually significantly faster than I felt like I was running, which got me 9th in my age group. So 8 people passed me from my age group alone out there. Extrapolate that to all the other age groups and genders.. (Most of my miles were in the 10s, some high, some low, then my last full mile was a 9:42, and my last 0.37 was at an 8:17 pace. Ha. Nice and even there.)
Meanwhile Matt ran an amazing race, and got 2nd in his age group, and a neat geode slice award!
2nd in his age group!
We celebrated our finish by first eating our weight in sausage (that was mostly Pam, but she doesn't weigh much anyway), and then ziplining!
Okay, actually the ziplining was a little disappointing. It was two lines, not an impressive distance off the ground, not impressively far, and not at all scenic. But still pretty fun, if over very, very quickly.
But theeeeeeeen.. Canopy Challenge! I had no idea what it was, but it was a ropes course, and you can just climb around on it to your heart's content. I wasn't sure how my body would react.. I've never really had a problem with heights, but I've also never tried walking across a thin single rope before. Turns out, if I'm attached to a harness, I'm just fine with it!
Canopy Challenge! That top level was pretty high..
We had a lot of fun, and Matt, who doesn't like heights, was the bravest of all of us, and had no problem with it. We climbed our way all the way to the top and then made our way back down again, and called it good.
Best part of my birthday!
Then a fun road trip back home, stopping at Buc-ee's to gawk, because that's what one does, and a successful birthday experience.
And I'm glad that the day was overall fun, because then I called my boss, who'd assured me that I wouldn't need to come in on my birthday, and found out that, indeed, they desperately needed help, and I should come in on my birthday. But Matt, who is the best husband in the world and a trooper, came in with me, and we spent the rest of my birthday together, even if it was at work, crawling under desks and hauling boxes.
I'd definitely do that run again, hopefully in better physical and emotional shape. The cave part was short, but amazing, and in a better frame of mind, I would have enjoyed the rest of the run, too. But I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I got to run on my birthday!