The Loop 30k trail run 2013 race report.
Last long weekend before we begin tapering for Collegiate Peaks, why not do a supported long trail run? Plus, Laura wanted to do the 10k and didn't want to go out there alone. Plus, it felt like forever since I'd done a Rogue trail race (though the internet claims that perhaps it has only been since 2011).
We carpooled with John and Laura, both doing the 10k, and left stupidly early because they (Rogue, not John and Laura) kept going on and on about how bad parking would be, and encouraging carpooling and showing up early. So we showed up just after packet pickup began at 5:30am (passing lots of lit-up, reflective runners on the shoulder of 360, that we later realized were doing Run to the Sun), and were one of the first people to park. Close and convenient parking! And then a lot of time to kill.
I'm accustomed to running The Loop when it's stupidly hot and humid, so our temps right around 50 degrees were delightful (and made it hard to want to take off the warm clothing at the start). But after a few portapotty trips, some number-pinning, and some huddling in the car listening to Led Zeppelin, it was time to strip down and start.
Josh retaliating after I photobombed his picture. (Not yet having taken off the warm clothing.)
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
There were a decent number of folks milling around, but when it came time for the 30k people to line up, the field seemed very small (the 10k people started half an hour later). And indeed, the results show that there were just over 60 people doing the 30k. I started near the back, knowing that we had a short run through the parking lot to sort out who should be where.
Loop 1
Through the parking lot and then up the hill onto the ridge. Josh was taking pictures right at the top of a climb, and the folks in front of me were walking, so as I went by him, I flashed him some jazz hands, then kicked him because, hey, I was walking anyway, why not throw out a friendly kick to my favorite photographer?
Jazz hands!
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
Then I settled in to a comfortable pace. Behind a guy wearing cargo shorts. It took me an annoyingly long time to pass the guy in cargo shorts.
Not only had it been a long time since I'd run out at Emma Long, but we were also running counter-clockwise, which I think I'd only done once before, so the course wasn't familiar at all (yet, I still had 2 loops to go after this). I passed some folks, some folks passed me, and then eventually I found my place and things cleared up a bit, and I just ran. I tried to stay strong, but bear in mind that I had to run 18 miles total, and that was more trail miles than I'd done since Nueces.
Went through the aid station without stopping, and then heard a girl pull up behind me. I told her to just let me know when she wanted to pass, and she said she was in no hurry, and there was plenty of room if she decided she wanted to pass. And then she just stuck to my heels. I kept figuring she was going to pass me, but she was also breathing fairly audibly, so then I thought maybe she was where she needed to be, and I tried to keep my pace up so I didn't slow her down. We'd trade comments every once in a while, but mostly we just silently ran together through the rest of the loop.
Came out of the woods and could see the finish line ahead, but it was just a tease, and we ran by the second aid station (didn't stop) and back into the woods for one last bit, leaving the rocky shelves behind and taking on dirt and roots instead. I told the girl behind me that we'd nearly accomplished one of my sub-goals, which was finishing my first loop without the 10k leaders passing me. Mission accomplished! Another surprise Josh at the end of the loop, and I tried to give him finger-guns, which just ended up looking kinda weird.
Awkward finger-guns, and that girl right behind me.
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
And then out of the woods right at the finish line. I didn't need anything, so I just crossed the finish line and started my second loop. As we approached the finish line, the girl behind me came up beside me, passed me, disappeared in the distance, and I never saw her again. I have no idea why she spent so much time pacing off me, when she was so much faster than me! But it did help me stay motivated and not slack off for nearly half a loop, so thank you, girl who I never actually saw until she passed me at the finish line!
Done with loop 1, and being passed.
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
Loop 2
As she passed me, I commented on how loop 2 was always the hardest for me. She said she was fearing loop 3, and I acknowledged that would be the hardest loop physically, but loop 2 is where the mental demons come out, because you're not fresh like the first loop, and you aren't heading toward the finish line like the third loop. So I vowed to stay positive on loop 2.
Another little sub-goal was to see if I could catch Laura. Some mental math, given the differences in our start times and the 10k being only one loop, told me that it was unlikely unless she was pretty much exclusively walking, but she's been having a lot of foot pain, so it was possible she was exclusively walking. And it gave me a goal.
I still felt like I was running well, and I still had a lot of energy. At some point a person pulled up behind me, and I started kinda hugging the right side of the trail, so they could pass me. Except they didn't/wouldn't. I gave them plenty of opportunity, but they seemed pretty happy to stay on my heels. And then we got to some rocky/ledgy downhill parts, and since ANOTHER of my sub-goals was to turn my ankles as little as possible (I've been turning my ankles every run I've done out at Forest Ridge, and I ALWAYS turn my ankles at The Loop, just because of the rocky/ledgy terrain), I didn't want to take the downhills too aggressively. So just before the downhill, I pulled off the trail to let the person go by. And he (turns out it was a guy) stopped directly behind me. He pulled out one of his earbuds and said, "Nono, keep going!" And I said, "I'm not good at descents, you should go ahead me." And he said, "I like to find a woman at these races and pace myself off her. Women run really steady. Guys always sprint." Well. Okay, then! So I kept going, making sure to do it at my own pace, not letting the pressure of having someone behind me make me do something stupid. And then eventually, after a couple uphills, I looked back and he was gone.
Skipped the aid station again, and tried to pick up the pace a little in the last few miles, hoping to find Laura. I wasn't really finding much of anyone. Every so often I'd pass someone or be passed, but mostly it was getting pretty lonely out there. At least until a guy came from nowhere and passed me like I was running backward. Oh, hello, 30k leader! And shortly thereafter, Paul Terranova passed, with a friendly greeting and encouragement. They were going to finish their 30k before I'd even finish 20k. Would that I could figure out how to be that fast.
Finally got to the 2nd aid station and grabbed a sandwich square from the table. I palpated my water pack, figuring that EVENTUALLY I was going to need to refill it, but it still felt very full, and I ran on, shoving my sandwich in my mouth. It was on wheat bread, which seems a strange decision for race food, and it was kinda stale and very dry. Erf.
Fortunately I managed to get it down before I came up behind John and Leilani, just about to finish their 10k, so I was able to do the Led Zeppelin "howl" Laura and I had been threatening to do at each other if we found each other out on the trail. If I couldn't use it on Laura, I'd use it on John! He seemed less entertained than Laura would have been.
Then I emerged from the woods to the finish line, and there was Laura with her camera out, howling some Led Zeppelin at me! I said, "I just sang that at your husband!" as I crossed the finish line, ran over to my chair, grabbed 2 Gus out of the cup holder, and started my 3rd loop, yelling, "Bye!" Efficient!
Finishing loop 2, heading for my chair, listening to Laura howl.
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
Loop 3
Okay! 2 down, 1 to go. Still feeling surprisingly good. Better than I've felt at the end of most of my trail runs lately, even though this distance was about the length of most of my trail runs lately. I glanced at my watch and thought it was even possible that my 2nd loop was faster than my 1st (not true, but I didn't know that at the time). I decided to try to make my 3rd loop my fastest. Not exactly my strong suit at my recent races and trail runs, but why not try?
At this point, with the 10k people finished, and me being near the back of the pack of 30k people, there was really nobody else out there. But instead of being lonely, it was peaceful. There's a part near the beginning of the loop that I hadn't really noticed looked a lot like the runs we used to do out at Bastrop State Park, back before it burned down. Soft, dirt, leafy trail with big towering trees and dappled sunlight. Lovely and peaceful.
The lack of people was also a boon as my legs got more tired, and I got more paranoid, and caution was making me do some really ridiculous things. I was running to the outside edges of ledges, adding unnecessary distance in order to reduce the stress on my legs of climbing up or jumping down the tall ledges. It's not a course that rewards the short of leg. But I hadn't turned any ankles yet, and I wanted that to be true all the way until the end (spoiler: I never turned any ankles). At one point there was a fairly steep drop that was steep even on the edges, so I ran to the edge and grabbed onto a sturdy sapling to reduce the fall impact, and my momentum ended up making me swing out and turn backward, then lowering myself backward down to the ground. It was absurd, and at that point I was really happy nobody else was around to witness.
But I was still feeling really strong and happy. I had gone through pretty much every They Might Be Giants album in my head, and was moving on to Queen's Greatest Hits. I don't need to wear an mp3 player, my overactive brain provides me plenty of soundtrack, in combination with the birds and bugs and often-mysteriously-nearby traffic noises.
Ran through the aid station one last time, grabbing and downing a cup of delicious Coke, then passing some of the guys who'd passed me earlier, or been sitting tantalizingly out of reach, and thanking the volunteers one last time as I ran out.
Home stretch! Ankles still intact. Energy still surprisingly high. Temperature still shockingly tolerable, even with the sun out. Still plenty of water in my pack (oops, probably not good). Food and salt right on schedule. Running with joy. Feeling great.
As I got closer and closer to the end, I started my mantra, "The faster you run, the sooner you're done. The faster you run, the sooner you're done." Except it was the modified version that didn't trip off the tongue quite as easily, "The faster you run, the sooner you're done, exceptnotrunningsofastthatyoudosomethingstupidandruinyourentirerace." Yeah. It needs some work. But it meant I was still going wide on the descents and being (too? nah, it worked out for me) cautious.
The last part seemed to take forever, but eventually I broke out of the woods to the aid station, and there were Laura and Matt, both with cameras out! Matt said, "I love you!" and as I turned into the woods one last time, I said, "I love you! Both of you!" And then I felt bad for the other 2 spectators out there, strangers though they might be, and for the aid station volunteers, so I yelled, "Uh, I love all of you!"
Twisted and turned through the roots and trees one last time, pushing as hard as I could/felt comfortable, given how tired my legs were, and then one last time out of the woods and across the finish line!
Whew.
One last jazz hands as I ran by the portapotties to the finish line!
Photo by Matt
Results
The most important result is that I felt strong the entire race. I feel like I've kinda fallen apart my last two trail races on the 2nd half, and even on my training trail runs. And I've always fallen apart out at The Loop, and felt defeated by the course. But not this time. This time I defeated the course.
The official results don't really show the get-faster-every-loop that I felt like I was achieving, but they do show a pretty solid progression: 1:11:23, 1:13:33, 1:14:04, for a total time of 3:39:00.
To compare that to past results, the only other 30k Loop I've done was a 3:58:03, and my previous standalone 10k Loop PR is 1:08:50. So not too far off that, but 3 times the distance!
I was 11th woman, which sounds more impressive when I don't include the fact that there were only 16 women who finished. :)
Overall, a really solid training day, and a real confidence builder for my upcoming 25 miles at Collegiate Peaks. Just have to add 7 more miles and 95% less oxygen!
We carpooled with John and Laura, both doing the 10k, and left stupidly early because they (Rogue, not John and Laura) kept going on and on about how bad parking would be, and encouraging carpooling and showing up early. So we showed up just after packet pickup began at 5:30am (passing lots of lit-up, reflective runners on the shoulder of 360, that we later realized were doing Run to the Sun), and were one of the first people to park. Close and convenient parking! And then a lot of time to kill.
I'm accustomed to running The Loop when it's stupidly hot and humid, so our temps right around 50 degrees were delightful (and made it hard to want to take off the warm clothing at the start). But after a few portapotty trips, some number-pinning, and some huddling in the car listening to Led Zeppelin, it was time to strip down and start.
Josh retaliating after I photobombed his picture. (Not yet having taken off the warm clothing.)
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
There were a decent number of folks milling around, but when it came time for the 30k people to line up, the field seemed very small (the 10k people started half an hour later). And indeed, the results show that there were just over 60 people doing the 30k. I started near the back, knowing that we had a short run through the parking lot to sort out who should be where.
Loop 1
Through the parking lot and then up the hill onto the ridge. Josh was taking pictures right at the top of a climb, and the folks in front of me were walking, so as I went by him, I flashed him some jazz hands, then kicked him because, hey, I was walking anyway, why not throw out a friendly kick to my favorite photographer?
Jazz hands!
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
Then I settled in to a comfortable pace. Behind a guy wearing cargo shorts. It took me an annoyingly long time to pass the guy in cargo shorts.
Not only had it been a long time since I'd run out at Emma Long, but we were also running counter-clockwise, which I think I'd only done once before, so the course wasn't familiar at all (yet, I still had 2 loops to go after this). I passed some folks, some folks passed me, and then eventually I found my place and things cleared up a bit, and I just ran. I tried to stay strong, but bear in mind that I had to run 18 miles total, and that was more trail miles than I'd done since Nueces.
Went through the aid station without stopping, and then heard a girl pull up behind me. I told her to just let me know when she wanted to pass, and she said she was in no hurry, and there was plenty of room if she decided she wanted to pass. And then she just stuck to my heels. I kept figuring she was going to pass me, but she was also breathing fairly audibly, so then I thought maybe she was where she needed to be, and I tried to keep my pace up so I didn't slow her down. We'd trade comments every once in a while, but mostly we just silently ran together through the rest of the loop.
Came out of the woods and could see the finish line ahead, but it was just a tease, and we ran by the second aid station (didn't stop) and back into the woods for one last bit, leaving the rocky shelves behind and taking on dirt and roots instead. I told the girl behind me that we'd nearly accomplished one of my sub-goals, which was finishing my first loop without the 10k leaders passing me. Mission accomplished! Another surprise Josh at the end of the loop, and I tried to give him finger-guns, which just ended up looking kinda weird.
Awkward finger-guns, and that girl right behind me.
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
And then out of the woods right at the finish line. I didn't need anything, so I just crossed the finish line and started my second loop. As we approached the finish line, the girl behind me came up beside me, passed me, disappeared in the distance, and I never saw her again. I have no idea why she spent so much time pacing off me, when she was so much faster than me! But it did help me stay motivated and not slack off for nearly half a loop, so thank you, girl who I never actually saw until she passed me at the finish line!
Done with loop 1, and being passed.
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
Loop 2
As she passed me, I commented on how loop 2 was always the hardest for me. She said she was fearing loop 3, and I acknowledged that would be the hardest loop physically, but loop 2 is where the mental demons come out, because you're not fresh like the first loop, and you aren't heading toward the finish line like the third loop. So I vowed to stay positive on loop 2.
Another little sub-goal was to see if I could catch Laura. Some mental math, given the differences in our start times and the 10k being only one loop, told me that it was unlikely unless she was pretty much exclusively walking, but she's been having a lot of foot pain, so it was possible she was exclusively walking. And it gave me a goal.
I still felt like I was running well, and I still had a lot of energy. At some point a person pulled up behind me, and I started kinda hugging the right side of the trail, so they could pass me. Except they didn't/wouldn't. I gave them plenty of opportunity, but they seemed pretty happy to stay on my heels. And then we got to some rocky/ledgy downhill parts, and since ANOTHER of my sub-goals was to turn my ankles as little as possible (I've been turning my ankles every run I've done out at Forest Ridge, and I ALWAYS turn my ankles at The Loop, just because of the rocky/ledgy terrain), I didn't want to take the downhills too aggressively. So just before the downhill, I pulled off the trail to let the person go by. And he (turns out it was a guy) stopped directly behind me. He pulled out one of his earbuds and said, "Nono, keep going!" And I said, "I'm not good at descents, you should go ahead me." And he said, "I like to find a woman at these races and pace myself off her. Women run really steady. Guys always sprint." Well. Okay, then! So I kept going, making sure to do it at my own pace, not letting the pressure of having someone behind me make me do something stupid. And then eventually, after a couple uphills, I looked back and he was gone.
Skipped the aid station again, and tried to pick up the pace a little in the last few miles, hoping to find Laura. I wasn't really finding much of anyone. Every so often I'd pass someone or be passed, but mostly it was getting pretty lonely out there. At least until a guy came from nowhere and passed me like I was running backward. Oh, hello, 30k leader! And shortly thereafter, Paul Terranova passed, with a friendly greeting and encouragement. They were going to finish their 30k before I'd even finish 20k. Would that I could figure out how to be that fast.
Finally got to the 2nd aid station and grabbed a sandwich square from the table. I palpated my water pack, figuring that EVENTUALLY I was going to need to refill it, but it still felt very full, and I ran on, shoving my sandwich in my mouth. It was on wheat bread, which seems a strange decision for race food, and it was kinda stale and very dry. Erf.
Fortunately I managed to get it down before I came up behind John and Leilani, just about to finish their 10k, so I was able to do the Led Zeppelin "howl" Laura and I had been threatening to do at each other if we found each other out on the trail. If I couldn't use it on Laura, I'd use it on John! He seemed less entertained than Laura would have been.
Then I emerged from the woods to the finish line, and there was Laura with her camera out, howling some Led Zeppelin at me! I said, "I just sang that at your husband!" as I crossed the finish line, ran over to my chair, grabbed 2 Gus out of the cup holder, and started my 3rd loop, yelling, "Bye!" Efficient!
Finishing loop 2, heading for my chair, listening to Laura howl.
Photo by AzulOx Photography.
Loop 3
Okay! 2 down, 1 to go. Still feeling surprisingly good. Better than I've felt at the end of most of my trail runs lately, even though this distance was about the length of most of my trail runs lately. I glanced at my watch and thought it was even possible that my 2nd loop was faster than my 1st (not true, but I didn't know that at the time). I decided to try to make my 3rd loop my fastest. Not exactly my strong suit at my recent races and trail runs, but why not try?
At this point, with the 10k people finished, and me being near the back of the pack of 30k people, there was really nobody else out there. But instead of being lonely, it was peaceful. There's a part near the beginning of the loop that I hadn't really noticed looked a lot like the runs we used to do out at Bastrop State Park, back before it burned down. Soft, dirt, leafy trail with big towering trees and dappled sunlight. Lovely and peaceful.
The lack of people was also a boon as my legs got more tired, and I got more paranoid, and caution was making me do some really ridiculous things. I was running to the outside edges of ledges, adding unnecessary distance in order to reduce the stress on my legs of climbing up or jumping down the tall ledges. It's not a course that rewards the short of leg. But I hadn't turned any ankles yet, and I wanted that to be true all the way until the end (spoiler: I never turned any ankles). At one point there was a fairly steep drop that was steep even on the edges, so I ran to the edge and grabbed onto a sturdy sapling to reduce the fall impact, and my momentum ended up making me swing out and turn backward, then lowering myself backward down to the ground. It was absurd, and at that point I was really happy nobody else was around to witness.
But I was still feeling really strong and happy. I had gone through pretty much every They Might Be Giants album in my head, and was moving on to Queen's Greatest Hits. I don't need to wear an mp3 player, my overactive brain provides me plenty of soundtrack, in combination with the birds and bugs and often-mysteriously-nearby traffic noises.
Ran through the aid station one last time, grabbing and downing a cup of delicious Coke, then passing some of the guys who'd passed me earlier, or been sitting tantalizingly out of reach, and thanking the volunteers one last time as I ran out.
Home stretch! Ankles still intact. Energy still surprisingly high. Temperature still shockingly tolerable, even with the sun out. Still plenty of water in my pack (oops, probably not good). Food and salt right on schedule. Running with joy. Feeling great.
As I got closer and closer to the end, I started my mantra, "The faster you run, the sooner you're done. The faster you run, the sooner you're done." Except it was the modified version that didn't trip off the tongue quite as easily, "The faster you run, the sooner you're done, exceptnotrunningsofastthatyoudosomethingstupidandruinyourentirerace." Yeah. It needs some work. But it meant I was still going wide on the descents and being (too? nah, it worked out for me) cautious.
The last part seemed to take forever, but eventually I broke out of the woods to the aid station, and there were Laura and Matt, both with cameras out! Matt said, "I love you!" and as I turned into the woods one last time, I said, "I love you! Both of you!" And then I felt bad for the other 2 spectators out there, strangers though they might be, and for the aid station volunteers, so I yelled, "Uh, I love all of you!"
Twisted and turned through the roots and trees one last time, pushing as hard as I could/felt comfortable, given how tired my legs were, and then one last time out of the woods and across the finish line!
Whew.
One last jazz hands as I ran by the portapotties to the finish line!
Photo by Matt
Results
The most important result is that I felt strong the entire race. I feel like I've kinda fallen apart my last two trail races on the 2nd half, and even on my training trail runs. And I've always fallen apart out at The Loop, and felt defeated by the course. But not this time. This time I defeated the course.
The official results don't really show the get-faster-every-loop that I felt like I was achieving, but they do show a pretty solid progression: 1:11:23, 1:13:33, 1:14:04, for a total time of 3:39:00.
To compare that to past results, the only other 30k Loop I've done was a 3:58:03, and my previous standalone 10k Loop PR is 1:08:50. So not too far off that, but 3 times the distance!
I was 11th woman, which sounds more impressive when I don't include the fact that there were only 16 women who finished. :)
Overall, a really solid training day, and a real confidence builder for my upcoming 25 miles at Collegiate Peaks. Just have to add 7 more miles and 95% less oxygen!