More Magic

“I think she’s in your age group” and “C’mon, you can catch her”……

She wasn’t.  And I didn’t.  But it’s amazing how effective those magical words can be when you’re racing!

Scott and I ran a 10K trail race this past weekend.  It took place on a sprawling reservation that is part of The Pingree School in Hamilton, MA.  I looked at Scott incredulously and said, “Wow, kids go to school here?”  It looks like a mansion:

We arrived early, saw a few familiar faces, said our hello’s, grabbed our bibs, and yes, assembled our magic caps again!  We added in a 4 mile run before the race to round out our 10 miles scheduled for the day.  We collected a few horse flies via magic cap just on the road during that 4 miler!  Never mind what the trails/woods would bring.

The course was a 2-loop 5K course and it was extremely well marked.  That’s saying something for me!  At one point, Scott’s magic from his magic cap fell off (too many horse flies weighed it down!) and I continued on for a little bit without him.  To be brave enough to do that is a testament to the course marking.  I did not get lost.

I also did NOT fall.  Yay me!

Although it was a very humid morning, we had decent cloud cover during the race.  But we were still a sweaty mess!  It’s been pretty dry as well, so no water on the trail and any mud was firmly packed and not an issue.  I spent a lot of the race watching other runners.  Trail running is a different animal and I definitely noticed a form that many runners adopted.  It was a form that included a combination of pushing (for speed) and relaxing - allowing them to almost float over the rocks and roots that might trip a trail newbie like me up. 

It was during our second loop that Scott uttered those magic words.  I pushed and I definitely closed the gap a couple of times.  Then a hill would appear and I would lose her again.  [Note to self:  Must work on those hills]  Scott was great in reminding me, “You’ll walk these hills at StoneCat” but for now, I just wanted to catch up to and pass the woman-who-I-thought-was-my-age-group-nemesis. 

We got to the 6 mile mark and Scott flew ahead of me, which had me reaching for another gear.  This time it would not come to fruition.  She finished just before I did.  She had an extra gear that I didn’t. 

But she was also in the 50-54 age group. 

I talked to her afterwards and thanked her for playing “rabbit” for me.  I ended up finishing 5^th in my age group.  Not too shabby for a trail newbie.  I’ll take it and add this experience to my developing trail running repertoire.  Trail running is quite different and I’m quietly collecting information; observing others, testing the waters, and preparing myself for a possible 12 hours of it in November. 

Hopefully there’s some magic awaiting me at StoneCat!