Nice Tights!!

Nice tights, you say? Yup. That's what I heard over & over.. all day.. from women, men.. fellow runners, voluteers, spectators.. at a trail marathon?! a place where fashion really has no place.. maybe they were making fun of me?? Who knows.. Oh, well! I threw all tried and true race rule bending caution to the wind today & I wore a WHOLE new outfit. I called it my "I'm not a deer, please don't shoot me with your muzzle loaders (??wha?? don't even know what it is.. but pretty sure I don't want to tangle with it!) or arrows" outfit. I wanted to be bright.. so I hit the local Dicks with Mason & gave him the orders to "find me something bright to wear".. He kept picking out shorts & tank tops.. so really wasn't much help.. but there was 1 pair of knee length tights that were black with bright pink criss-crosses that he was particularly fond of.. so we based the outfit off that & we were set! Well... my, my.. Who could have guessed that they'd be such belles of the ball??! I thought it was funny.. Anyway.. So here goes my Tecumseh Trail Marathon report.. Let me just say.. I had a great time.. It was no joke, though, that's for sure! It's a tough (but fair.. except for that super long, super crazy steep gravel road hill just past 1/2 way.. what was that all about?? Not cool..) coarse, but I also found myself several times along the way just really enjoying myself & loving the trail and scenery.. so it was great! I enjoyed the trail running atmosphere, as usual.. The race directors and volunteers were all great.. every aid station along the way (well.. except that 1 towards the end that had run out of water.. But I carried my hydration pack, much to the chagrin, I guess, of many folks there? Who knew it was uncool to come prepared?? More on that later..) was well stocked & manned by helpful, smiling, encouraging, wonderful people.. it was SO much appreciated! I got off to a bit of an... interesting start.. 1st, we loaded up on the school busses & took off for the start (it was a point to point race).. everything seemed to be going pretty OK.. But.. the bus drivers didn't have directions??! Oh, my.. luckily there were some TTM vets that were able to direct them/us to the start & we were there in plenty of time. Some other busses had a little more difficulty, but it seemed like everyone got there in time to start just a few minutes late. We were also SUPER lucky to have such great weather! For a december trail marathon, it can really go pretty much any way, but today was a sunny (at times) 40-50 degree, quite pleasant day! Really lucked out there (thanks, big guy!). So we're off.. I'm feeling.. huh.. I'm feeling foggy? I had this kinda dizzy, kinda cloudy vision thing going on right from the start. Am I thirsty? drink from pack.. hmm.. time for a gu?....still off.. maybe I need salty stuff... pretzels at the aid station.. still just off. Not sick. Not bad.. just can't figure out what's wrong with me. Honestly, this went on 'til about the 16mi-ish mark & then I finally started to clear up.. Best I can figure is that it was probably from that stuff I sprayed up my nose this morning in effort to combat the stuffiness that I've had for a few days from my cold. Oops! So anyway.. that probably made my run a little slow in parts, but I still felt like I was moving as I normally would & doing OK.. so I don't think too much was lost with that. I started the 1st hour running with my new trail running buds, Kim, whom I ran with a few times while training in Brown County, & her friend, River, who ran with us a few weeks ago. Sadly, though, I think partly because of my foggy head, folks kept jumping 1 person ahead & splitting us up further & further apart (for any non-trail runners.. this was kind of annoying because on this single track portion of the run.. which is most of this run, but there are parts where you can pass more safely.. BUT..it was annoying b/c we were in a long line of runners.. I was right behind Kim, doing just whatever pace those in front of me were doing.. but I guess I left enough room in between me & the person ahead of me (excuse me for not being all up in their business!) that someone could squeeze in.. WHY they felt they needed to bust thier a$$ & risk hitting trees to get ONE measly person ahead?? not sure.. Anyway..). So as they were getting 2, 3, 4, etc people separated from me, I decided to take a minute at the aid station to pack away my hat and gloves & then traipsed on solo from there.. No biggie, though.. it's not like you're ever really alone in a trail marathon! at least not in this one.. Not in a bad way, though.. After folks start to spread out more & more, people get better at a) being amongst folks going the same pace, & b) hearing someone clearly going faster than they are approaching & stepping aside a bit to allow a pass..not a 1 person bunny hop.. a real pass.. Anyway. As I mentioned before, people were giving me grief for carrying a fairly full hydration pack on this pretty well supported trail run (aid stations about every 3 miles, I think?). Well, folks.. as the great G Dub (Bush) once said.. "Fool me once (supposedly supported trail 1/2 marathon where I opted not to carry my own water & therefore almost completely bonked an hr in b/c I couldn't take my gu w/o any water), shame on you, Fool me twice...well, you're not going to fool me twice". So. I opted to carry my water, gu, snacks, extra socks (OK..maybe that was goofy), or whatever else I thought I might need out there. I had more than a few runners comment on how much I was carrying.. word on the street was that I would be able to survive a week in the woods with all that I had, to which I would cheerfully reply that that's what I was going for & ya just never know what you might need.. And then whenever I would pass/see one of them on the trail I'd offer them a snack! (no takers.. I'd also offer a gu to anyone I saw that seemed to be experiencing a bonk.. which, by the way, this prepared runner never had!.. but again, no takers?! I tried to explain that they were underestimating the power of the gu.. Oh, well.. more for me!) But I was so glad I had carried my water. Perhaps I overdid on the snacks.. I really only ate the Gu's that I carried, which I carried mostly on my race/fuel belt.. I kept to a Gu about every 40 minutes or so, though I got a little lax w/ that toward the end b/c I was eating more solid stuff and drinking gatorade at the aid stations.. But all said, I went through a package of chomps & 6 Gu's.. and all the misc treats from aid stations (couple pretzels, cheez-its, gumdrops, 1/2 banana.. really not much at a time, just enough to try to get salt/electrolytes/ & of coarse sugar.. like I needed more of that!). I also went through probably 1 1/2 full 'bladders' (why is it called that?? yucky name..) of water from my pack.. plus I'd usually grab water or gatorade at the aid stations.. So I pretty much ate, drank & ran all day! So where was I.. I continued on through the run.. about 2 hrs in (I didn't keep track of miles.. some of the aid stations (maybe all, but I wasn't paying attention) had the distance marked.. or I'd ask someone about where we were, but I really wasn't that concerned with it.. until the end!) we went through this really nice section where it was flat & filled w/ moss & ferns.. just really enjoyable! There were lots of hills, as promised.. It was mostly fun single track with an occasional stretch of paved or gravel roads. Gravel roads were my least favorite.. Those little rocks start to really get to you! But I really enjoyed the run.. especially once my head cleared up & I could see better! (hard to watch for roots, stumps, rocks, other people's feet when your vision is blurred.. but I didn't fall!) I guess about mi 23-ish I ran into Kim.. unfortunately I figured this wasn't a great thing for her.. I was right b/c she was having stomach problems when a gu didn't sit right with her. I walked w/ her for a bit & she tried to run w/ me for a bit, but inevitably we parted ways.. I had a little munchkin & my husband waiting for me, afterall! You can hear the finish line across the lake for a while before you're actually at the finish.. I could tell it was still far away, so it wasn't too deceiving.. though it did light a little fire in me making me want to hustle as best I could to get to that finish line. Again.. as promised.. the last section was on gravel road (my fave) and included a nice hill.. But I made it.. able to finish pretty strong.. Give my little guy his required race "kiss and a hug" & cross the finish around 5:20? I was hoping to be under 5.. but not today, my friends. I worked hard out there & have the sore (super sore!) legs, knees, feet, ankles, hammies, hips, back..I think that covers it.. to prove it! I'll definitely do more trail marathons..probably this one included!.. now the question remains.. will I run further?? enter the ultra world?? c'mon.. what do you think?? I'd say it's more a question of when.. but let me finish icing these crazy, sore knees 1st. But I think that's about all I have to say about Tecumseh! I highly recommend it, though I doubt there will be weather like today's again for a while..