Xterra "19k"
I'd heard about races in Oak Mountain State Park for a while and always had the intention of doing one there, but the timing always seemed bad or I had simply forgotten about them. Two days prior I found out about Xterra's racing events that were happening throughout the weekend so I decided to take a break from Huntsville and head on down.
I think it was about this time last year that the same events were going on but I had no clue about them. At the time, I was just enjoying a day of trail running and saw the huge Xterra trailer and expo and wanted to be a part. This weekend I had several options to choose from. I was very tempted to pay the extra 10 dollars to participate in the full marathon but I didn't want to go through yet another week, or at the very least a couple days, in recovery mode. The half, or 19k as advertised, seemed a good distance for now. The only other half I'd ever done on trails was McKay Hollow however many years ago.
The director made a few last minute announcements to everyone toeing the line. He had a miniature cannon loaded with a blank 12 gauge round that saw us off with a particularly loud bang! for its size. The first mile and a half was on a hardball jeep road before we turned onto the dirt. I allowed myself to put my foot down and take advantage of the smooth under surface before I had to slow up on single track. There was one thing the director said before the start that sounded a little dubious to me. Since there were so many other Xterra-style triathlons and trail runs taking place this weekend, there were a bunch of arrows strewn all around the park, but he assured us that "every arrow [you see] is applicable to you."
At the first juncture of trail and road, I was faced with two options: right up the hill or left back down a trail that paralleled the road I just ran up on. The small lead pack was apparently far enough ahead of me to where I couldn't see which way they went. The criss-crossed arrows on the tree didn't help make my mind up either. I went right. My understanding was that there would be a loop at the end of the jeep road and I thought surely this is the start of it. After a good bit of climbing, I noticed all the arrows I passed at this point were on the other side of the trees. Weird. I reached the red trail, the large double track that runs along the spine of the park, and knew this had to be wrong. I saw another arrow ahead pointing back down the hill and took it.
After several more trail junctions completely void of directional indicators, I had to make my best guess as to which trail would take me back from wince I came. All the while, I thought, just maybe this is still what I am supposed to do. Besides, on my way back down that same climb I saw several others making their way up the hill. Once I returned to the jeep road, snagged a splash of water from the aid station, and continued up the proper route, I realized my error. While I was sightseeing on the red trail, the entire field of runners, save for the hand full who had also gone the wrong way, got in front of me.
The next 8 or 9 miles consisted of me yelling "On your left!" and catching up to every last runner who had taken the shorter, proper course, about 200 I wager. I could only hope the lead group had the same issue. Maybe I was still in this.
One of the last guys I passed mentioned that I must've been one of the "wrong turn" group. So I wasn't the only one playing catch up after all. The last miles were frustrating but I tried to keep putting it out of my mind. It had still felt really good to open up my pace for a bunch of miles out here on this terrain, a rare treat.
I spent a good amount of time at the recovery tent availing myself to the free Gatorade Pro products and granola bars. A couple buddies of mine from Huntsville ended up coming down and running the full. It was good seeing and chatting with them again for the first time since Mountain Mist.
At the end of the day I managed to make my way back up to 6th place overall and looking at the top five finishers' times, who had not in fact gotten misdirected, I would likely have finished exactly as I did, 1.2 additional miles notwithstanding. Maybe if I could've kept them in my sights, taken that left turn, run just that much harder, I could've beaten them. But for a race that was really just a product of my intermittent spontaneity, today was a success. Now, I'm gonna eat a sandwich and take a nap. I've got ridin' to do tomorrow.
I think it was about this time last year that the same events were going on but I had no clue about them. At the time, I was just enjoying a day of trail running and saw the huge Xterra trailer and expo and wanted to be a part. This weekend I had several options to choose from. I was very tempted to pay the extra 10 dollars to participate in the full marathon but I didn't want to go through yet another week, or at the very least a couple days, in recovery mode. The half, or 19k as advertised, seemed a good distance for now. The only other half I'd ever done on trails was McKay Hollow however many years ago.
The director made a few last minute announcements to everyone toeing the line. He had a miniature cannon loaded with a blank 12 gauge round that saw us off with a particularly loud bang! for its size. The first mile and a half was on a hardball jeep road before we turned onto the dirt. I allowed myself to put my foot down and take advantage of the smooth under surface before I had to slow up on single track. There was one thing the director said before the start that sounded a little dubious to me. Since there were so many other Xterra-style triathlons and trail runs taking place this weekend, there were a bunch of arrows strewn all around the park, but he assured us that "every arrow [you see] is applicable to you."
At the first juncture of trail and road, I was faced with two options: right up the hill or left back down a trail that paralleled the road I just ran up on. The small lead pack was apparently far enough ahead of me to where I couldn't see which way they went. The criss-crossed arrows on the tree didn't help make my mind up either. I went right. My understanding was that there would be a loop at the end of the jeep road and I thought surely this is the start of it. After a good bit of climbing, I noticed all the arrows I passed at this point were on the other side of the trees. Weird. I reached the red trail, the large double track that runs along the spine of the park, and knew this had to be wrong. I saw another arrow ahead pointing back down the hill and took it.
After several more trail junctions completely void of directional indicators, I had to make my best guess as to which trail would take me back from wince I came. All the while, I thought, just maybe this is still what I am supposed to do. Besides, on my way back down that same climb I saw several others making their way up the hill. Once I returned to the jeep road, snagged a splash of water from the aid station, and continued up the proper route, I realized my error. While I was sightseeing on the red trail, the entire field of runners, save for the hand full who had also gone the wrong way, got in front of me.
The next 8 or 9 miles consisted of me yelling "On your left!" and catching up to every last runner who had taken the shorter, proper course, about 200 I wager. I could only hope the lead group had the same issue. Maybe I was still in this.
One of the last guys I passed mentioned that I must've been one of the "wrong turn" group. So I wasn't the only one playing catch up after all. The last miles were frustrating but I tried to keep putting it out of my mind. It had still felt really good to open up my pace for a bunch of miles out here on this terrain, a rare treat.
At the end of the day I managed to make my way back up to 6th place overall and looking at the top five finishers' times, who had not in fact gotten misdirected, I would likely have finished exactly as I did, 1.2 additional miles notwithstanding. Maybe if I could've kept them in my sights, taken that left turn, run just that much harder, I could've beaten them. But for a race that was really just a product of my intermittent spontaneity, today was a success. Now, I'm gonna eat a sandwich and take a nap. I've got ridin' to do tomorrow.
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