Ok. I have a little time now to write. That race yesterday was pretty cool. I was not sure what to expect due to the fact that I don't remember even watching a live race. I have been wanting to do a race quite badly since I started jogging a few months back and this was the weekend to do it. I would have prefered to start with something a little less intimidating but all that was available in close proximity to Rockford was the last race in a series of trail runs at Rock Cut and it was a 20k. I figured I would treat it like I had planned on treating my first race, a race against myself. I knew this would be a true test of my will to keep going, due to the fact I have only run more than 5 miles a total of times in my life. This is 12.4 miles on a muddy icy trail, but at least there is scenery along the way.

Pre-race:
I end up circling the park a bit, trying to find where the start of the race is and eventually I do find it. I got registered and my number, etc 30 minutes to the start of the race. Starting to get a nervous stomach and pee for the 10th time in the past 2 hours. I am looking around at all of the people running this and they all look to be in rediculous shape. The guy that parked next to me in the lot looks like he could run an Ultramarathon without a problem. I reassure myself that I can finish. I go back to my car to grab my waist pack and fill my water bottle with Gatoraide. Apply a bit of Aquaphor knowing that even though it is not a long race it might turn into one for me. I am sure most runners know what Aquaphor is but for everyone else, its for chaffing. I didn't think about bringing bandaids which I am regretting today(chaffing of the nips).

So with 5 minutes to the race start I head back to the registration area where the starting line is located. I meet a guy from Naperville who ran this race last year and was telling me about getting passed by old people while in the back of my mind I know I will be there in an hour or so. His name is Derik, he is in the National Guard. The thing I remember the most about him is the huge safety glasses he was wearing. I thought "how wierd", but not 2 minutes into the race I understood why he was wearing them. Can you say flying branches? While the pack of racers had not thinned out yet there were people crowding the trail, the people on the outside pushing branches out of the way and trying to dodge the ones from the people in front of them(me being one of those people). I told Derik that this was my first race ever and he said half laughing, "your kidding right, not even a 5k?" I knew I was going to be in for the pain from that moment on. What added salt to the wound was the next part of our conversation, about the hydration situation along the race. "Not much" was his answer. I thought: "note to self, buy a camelback"

Miles 1 - 4:
It seems that not only did Derik and I forget that the race was starting in a matter of seconds, as did the race official. The race started with everyone yelling "go... go... go..." and we were off. I kept up with Derik and the other guy we were talking to for perhaps an 1/8th of a mile before I forced myself to slow down a bit. I didn't want to burn myself out(it ended up not mattering later anyway). So miles 1 through 3 involved a lot of running on unfamiliar mountain bike trails, and an occasional word with those running by me. Occasionally a younger woman would run by and I would do my best to speed up to stay with her pace like I was some sort of wild animal that had something to prove. I guess running just brings out the beast in me. Either way, it kept one's mind off the run for 20 to 30 minutes. At mile 4 we crossed the main roads that goes into the park from IL-173. On the other side of the road a 5 gallon cooler is sitting on a picnic table with cups strewin all around it. When I got to the cooler it was empty! Well....I got about a 1/2 of a cupful of water. I felt like drinking 20 cups of water though. I continued through the area we were entering which happened to be an area that I had never been through. It was a prairie restoration area. I came upon the end of the field and the path went into a number of pine trees for around a 100 yards. The miles were just not going as fast as I thought they would. It felt like I was running 1 hour miles!

5-8

I came out of the woods onto another area that I did not recognise. It was another prairie in which I could see people around a 1/4 mile ahead running along the parimeter of the forest. This is the point where every 10 minutes I would get really bogged down mentally. I forced myself to smile and look around a bit and comment how beautiful it was out and how lucky I was to be doing this. The good feelings stayed for a little while, then I would get bogged down again. And I would repeat the process. We kind of turned back into the woods and I noticed that I had not seen any of the trail markers(pink pie plates attached to wooden stakes with arrows on them) in the past 10 minutes. I hear a "HELLO?!?" ahead. A woman that looked to be in her mid 30's was standing on the trail and seemed to notice that there was a lack of pie plates as well. I figured we should keep going either way. A few others caught up to us(at least I heard them). We came around a bend in the trail and there was a nice 3' muddy hill to get up. I was coming up behind the same woman that thought we were lost and I was going to help her but she looked like an independant woman and she did it herself before I could even offer to help. I came up on mile 7 and I had been out of Gatoraide for the past 2 miles. I wasn't particularly thirsty(which I knew was a bad sign), and the signs of dehydration started immediately after I thought of water. My inner quads were starting to cramp a bit and I knew it would soon get worse. I remember the horror of a trip to Colorado and getting cramps in my legs so bad that I collapsed on the trail 100 yards from camp and couldn't move for 30 minutes. I figured I should keep moving because either I want to get as close to a road as possible or maybe I can run the cramps out. I grabbed a granola bar from my pack and tried to eat it dry mouthed while running. I don't know how people like Dean K. can do things like eat pizza and drink coffee while running.

8-12.4

The granola bar boosted my energy at mile 8, but I was having to stop every 10 minutes to massage out the cramps in my legs and calves. I was back in the woods running and a woman in her mid-40's was running towards me on the old logging road that the trail was crossing. She stated that she was using the bathroom. She was telling me about the club that put the race on The Rockford Road Runners and how they are a crazy bunch of people. I told her that I would definately fit in then. We had a little more small talk for about a 1/2 a mile, but I knew that I was slowing her down and she eventually did get past me. I felt like I was in a dream with lots and lots of pain. An older fellow came up behind me. He had an British accent. He stated that he got lost and had actually ran an extra 1.5 miles. I had to stop and walk because of cramps again and they were actually getting worse each time I stopped running it hurt worse so I was down to a hobble. I ended up passing the British guy 10 minutes later(the only person I actually passed in the whole race). I was in familiar area now. Very hilly and very fun on a MTB, not so much on foot. I came around a corner to a very steep hill with a thick climbing rope attached to a tree at the top. With 1 mile left I knew that even if I had to walk I would make it across that finish line. With 500 yards left in the race the guy parked next to me in the lot came up behind me and asked if I wanted to do it again. I remarked "yeah, lets take another lap" the last leg was up a hill and I sprinted to beat the guy whom I thought was one of those crazy people that could run the whole course in less than 2 hours. I did end up beating him as well as quite a few others. Final time 2:59:30. Not good, but at least it is not a DNF.

Post race:

A bit of chili and a little stretching and I head back to the truch to guzzle down 2 litters of Gatoraide. In the end would I do it again? Oh yes....