Quicksilver

Today was the Quicksilver 25K trail run. (that is roughly 15.5 miles) I have been looking forward to this run since I did the half marathon last September. It is in Quicksilver park and is all trails of various sorts and all hills. You are either going up or down with almost no flat areas.

The race started off with a fairly long, steep up hill. I am the type of runner that takes a couple of miles to get in to my groove. This is a tough way for me to start. On top of that I developed a severe side ache that took me about 15 minutes to shake. After that though, I felt great. Obviously tired and fatigued at times, but overall great! It is such a beautiful park with some fabulous views. How lucky I am to have this practically in my backyard!

I really wasn't sure what to expect for a time. This is such a different type of running compared to road racing. Initially I guessed 2 hr 45 min, than after looking at last years times hoped for under 3 hrs. I also set a goal of no ankle sprains, ticks or poison oak.

I rocked it at 2 hour 45 minutes!! I wasn't wearing a watch and there were no clocks on the course, so I was shocked to turn in to the finish line and see that time! I was even more shocked to have Pete and the boys come up to me about 5 minutes later. Because I told him 3 hr for my time, he just missed me coming in.

Don't they looked thrilled to see me? When I picked up Christopher he told me I needed to take a shower!

We were given by far the most awesome shirts. It is a thick tech shirt, almost a jacket. The logo (which is the very first picture above) is embroidered on. I wore it all day! (after my shower of course)

The 25 K was run in conjunction with a 50K and 50 mile race. Initially I thought how ludicrous it would be to run that type of distance in those conditions. What kind of crazy person does that? In the days leading up to the race, there was a part of me that wished I was doing the 50K. Of course, while running today I thought no way! It was hard to fathom doubling the distance I had done. The ultra runners were such a friendly bunch, and it was an amazing race. I would love to be able to say "I ran an ultra." It just doesn't seem enough to be able to say "I have run a marathon"--these days it seems anyone can do that. But an Ultra?

Maybe someday...