TALES FROM THE TRAIL (AND SOMETIMES THE ROAD TOO)

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Big Baz Winter Trail Series / 18k

I arrived to Blue Jay Campground, bundled up, an hour before today’s Big Baz’s WTS race.  After picking up my bib, I chatted briefly with a some runners I know, others that I don’t know.  Then I stood in the outhouse line.  Noticing one of the doors slightly ajar, I opened it to witness a woman stand up from the pot and lurch forward toward the door.  Apologizing profusely, I decided to go for a walk to warm these old bones and find an outhouse far, far away. Smile

The wind blew strong.  I noticed almost all the runners arriving were bundled up or dressed in cold weather running attire.  Finally I found my nice and secluded outhouse about a half mile away.  It was clean, lonely.  Without being too personal, I just have to relay what happened.  It wasn’t another female runner who pulled the door wide open.  No, he was a big, burley, lumberjack type who flung my outhouse door open.  LOL.  I knew not to stand up like that runner had when I did the same thing to her.  She provided a full frontal shot by doing so.  Instead, I let out a little scream, then looking down noticed that I was fully covered by my coat.  He slammed the door and I laughed out loud, exclaiming, “I thought I had locked it."

Those were my exciting pre-race events this morning.  Oh one more thing.  One runner proposed to his girlfriend in front of the pre-race crowd.  That was cute.

Eager to Start 

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Sheila & her husband Marcus

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Me & Sheila

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Girl accepts ring after proposal as Baz stands off to side

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I got rid of the warm clothes before the race started.  I knew only a matter of minutes would pass before I wished that I left them behind.  I certainly didn’t want to deal with tugging off the shirt during the race.  My plan was to really race.  I mean – run as fast as I could, only hiking in the extreme cases, and hiking FAST.

Turns out, that’s just what I did.  Wait.  The first thing I did, or didn’t do, was start the garmin.  I believe we were about a half mile in, maybe less when I finally started it.  Heck with that, I felt strong.  I jumped over gulleys and up onto boulders.  I eyed the ground suspiciously for anything that would send my flying.  I flew down the descents, but I never fell. 

For miles, I tried to catch a woman ahead of me.  She ran in sweats and long sleeves.  “She’s got to burning up,” I thought.  I gained on her some.  I don’t know if she knew that I had targeted her.  She wasn’t looking over her shoulder.  But then suddenly, she wiped out.  She didn’t just fall, she FELL, landing sprawled out on her back.  I screamed (for the second time today).  “Oh my gosh.  Are you all right???”  I ran up and hovering over her asked if she was alright, did she need help up?

“Not right now,” she said.  She wanted to sit there and recover.  She was kind of half sitting in the gulley, her eyes clear, but dazed.  I knew the feeling.  Oh, how I knew the feeling.   And I knew the annoyed look she gave me too. 

“Do you want me to leave?” I asked. 

“Yes,” she responded, waving me on.

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I just need to sit here.”

And so I took off, feeling a bit badly.  When my friend came up behind me some time later, I asked if that lady had gotten up.  I was relieved to find out that she had.  And I continued my strong run up and down hills.  And those steep inclines that I decided that I would make better time hiking, I hiked faster than I can ever remember hiking.  I kept those arms pumping, trying to catch the next lady up a ways.  Approaching her inch by inch, probably twenty feet separated us when she put her hands on her hips.  That’s when I knew my time had come to pass (ask me later about hands on hips, it’s against my rules : ) 

I really can’t remember running a stronger trail race than today.  It was a beautiful day in the forest.  And I have to say, that speed training and those timed loops have done some good.

Before I knew it, I was running pavement.  I was actually shocked that the race was almost over.  Fun, fun day.

After stretching, I hung out for a bit of the post race show (Big Baz’s raffle).  On my way out to the car, I was happy to see the woman who fell, running up the road toward the finish line.  She thanked me for stopping.  And I was oh so happy she said that. 

Runners stand around after race 

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Elevation Profile (a bit short, because I forgot to turn it on at the start), plus don’t forget to scroll down for the movie.

My Activities WTS BIG BAZ 18K 2-5-2011, Elevation - Distance

Oh, What Fun!

14 comments:

  1. Opening the bathroom door on people is one of the most awkward things on earth. Urgh. Hate it.

    Congratulations on running a strong race and getting some awesome video footage in! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Sounds like somebody needs to keep a whistle in their race pack!

    Nice job on the race, running strong!

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  3. Impressive video skills while running and on trails! Congrats on a great race.

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  4. Great video and camerawork. It warmed my heart - and my toes after a 10k yesterday in -18C weather!

    Bathroom stories! I should write one day about the dangers of sliding off the porta potty after greasing down (bodyglide) my nether regions prior to an Ironman...and perhaps the slippy surprise to the next user!

    Thanks for the read and the video!

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  5. What a beautiful run!

    Nice video too!

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  6. That is so cool!! It looked like a blast. :D Congrats on such a great run!

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  7. Thanks for reading Green Girl. Ya, the whole bathroom thing is the only thing I don't like about races : ))

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  8. Thanks Stuart! And thanks to you, my piriformis issues have disappeared. I am so glad I didn't have to spend the big bucks on that problem. Just a simple exercise. Who knew???

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  9. Thanks for stopping by Whitney! Believe me, it was a bit tricky doing the camera thing. There were parts of the trail that I didn't dare bring out the camera.

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  10. Thanks for reading Windnsnow. I'm especially glad you liked the video.

    18C! Yikes.

    A book about those bathroom stories might make a humerous read -- especially from an Ironman! Have a great week & I hope it warms up some.

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  11. It was a blast Kate. You should think about this Winter Trail Series for next year. The first one is 12k, and they increase every 2 weeks for a total of 4 races.

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  12. I'm really missing Baz's races this winter. Grrrrr......

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  13. I'm sorry Glenn. You will be out there in no time. This is my first Baz Winter Trail Series. I'm so glad to be there.

    I've been keeping up on your posts. And I am finding them helpful. You know, for the fun of it, you could volunteer one of Baz's races (and do a little networking too). I finally realized that I should carry business cards in my pack (can you believe I didn't think of that before???)

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