Inaugural Dirt Trails & Pony Tails 5K Trail run
I've taken up trail running as an off season activity. I've been running with Trailhead Running, aka Susan Farago & Richelle Criswell, on Thursday nights. They have created a new series of 5K women's only trail runs, and the first was the Dirt Trails & Pony Tails 5K, held on the property of the Austin Ridge Bible Church at Bee Caves & Cuernavaca. I was excited about running on trails I had not yet experienced! This church has a lot of property, with a frisbee golf course and baseball fields and an outdoor auditorium and who knows what else they've got hidden back there.
This was to be a very busy weekend.
I had the Texas Tri Series party on Friday night. Saturday morning was this 5K. On Saturday night was a 70th birthday party for a close family friend in San Antonio. When she saw on Facebook that I had signed up for this race she got very concerned that I wouldn't make it to her (5pm) party (in San Antonio). I assured her that I would be there in plenty of time.
And then on Tuesday night my throat felt a little funny. And on Wednesday a little worse. Cut to Friday night. Head cold was building steam. Terrible weekend to be sick! No time for that! So I went to the party and ignored my cold and had a great time.
I was determined to go to the 5K unless I couldn't get out of bed, and on Saturday morning, I got out of bed just fine, despite the head cold. It hadn't reached full strength yet.
Got to the race site early and met up with my teammate and old friend Pam Spann, the other half of Team Pam Squared. Well, the new Team Pam Squared. Original Pam Trefny has been replaced by Pam Spann for the time being.
This was a really small race, with maybe 50 women. Awards given to top 3 finishers only. No chip timing. Very casual.
The course was much harder than I expected. It was very very hilly. At the pre-race course talk, they pointed to a water tower in the distance above us. That's where we'd be going, they said. Hooboy.
The lovely Kim Carlson, doing her girl-on-fire impression with flame kissed arm warmers and crutches, sang the national anthem. And then they blew an air horn to send us on our way.
The course was sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky. Sometimes flat, sometimes hilly. A little something for everyone. I thought After the initial settling of pace, I could have been in the top 6 or 7 for a little while. Not that I was near the others. They were far ahead. Then I got confused about which way to turn and a bunch of people caught up and were just as confused until somebody picked a direction and then I was just in the middle of a pack. And since I knew I wasn't top 3 and wasn't ever going to be top 3 I assumed my place in the pack happily. I had trouble catching my breath on the uphills and blamed it on the head cold. Pam passed me by during the confusion, despite insisting that she was slow and had never trail run before, and I never caught up to her. Her legs are at least twice as long as mine, so there.
After running over the river (not really) and through the woods (really) we did an out and back on a jeep trail and then around the softball fields and then back to the parking lot with the finish line. There was a very mean uphill in the parking lot to get to the finish line. I finished strong and got my finishers fleecy scarf.
No official times, but Garmin reports a time of 36:46 for an average pace of 12:15. Not sure why so slow. Very sure I don't care. It was a fun event and I'd do it again and I will, for the second race in the series: Bruises & Bandages at Lake Georgetown in January!
And then I went on with the rest of the weekend, ignoring the head cold the entire time. The end.
And now, the pictures.
Squiggly course
Flying to the finish!
Team Pam Squared the second
This was to be a very busy weekend.
I had the Texas Tri Series party on Friday night. Saturday morning was this 5K. On Saturday night was a 70th birthday party for a close family friend in San Antonio. When she saw on Facebook that I had signed up for this race she got very concerned that I wouldn't make it to her (5pm) party (in San Antonio). I assured her that I would be there in plenty of time.
And then on Tuesday night my throat felt a little funny. And on Wednesday a little worse. Cut to Friday night. Head cold was building steam. Terrible weekend to be sick! No time for that! So I went to the party and ignored my cold and had a great time.
I was determined to go to the 5K unless I couldn't get out of bed, and on Saturday morning, I got out of bed just fine, despite the head cold. It hadn't reached full strength yet.
Got to the race site early and met up with my teammate and old friend Pam Spann, the other half of Team Pam Squared. Well, the new Team Pam Squared. Original Pam Trefny has been replaced by Pam Spann for the time being.
This was a really small race, with maybe 50 women. Awards given to top 3 finishers only. No chip timing. Very casual.
The course was much harder than I expected. It was very very hilly. At the pre-race course talk, they pointed to a water tower in the distance above us. That's where we'd be going, they said. Hooboy.
The lovely Kim Carlson, doing her girl-on-fire impression with flame kissed arm warmers and crutches, sang the national anthem. And then they blew an air horn to send us on our way.
The course was sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky. Sometimes flat, sometimes hilly. A little something for everyone. I thought After the initial settling of pace, I could have been in the top 6 or 7 for a little while. Not that I was near the others. They were far ahead. Then I got confused about which way to turn and a bunch of people caught up and were just as confused until somebody picked a direction and then I was just in the middle of a pack. And since I knew I wasn't top 3 and wasn't ever going to be top 3 I assumed my place in the pack happily. I had trouble catching my breath on the uphills and blamed it on the head cold. Pam passed me by during the confusion, despite insisting that she was slow and had never trail run before, and I never caught up to her. Her legs are at least twice as long as mine, so there.
After running over the river (not really) and through the woods (really) we did an out and back on a jeep trail and then around the softball fields and then back to the parking lot with the finish line. There was a very mean uphill in the parking lot to get to the finish line. I finished strong and got my finishers fleecy scarf.
No official times, but Garmin reports a time of 36:46 for an average pace of 12:15. Not sure why so slow. Very sure I don't care. It was a fun event and I'd do it again and I will, for the second race in the series: Bruises & Bandages at Lake Georgetown in January!
And then I went on with the rest of the weekend, ignoring the head cold the entire time. The end.
And now, the pictures.
Squiggly course
Flying to the finish!
Team Pam Squared the second