I had a doctor appointment today (for a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad ringing in my ears) so I couldn't make the run with Daisy and our third (I have to think of a name for her). I had decided before the appointment to take my clothes with me and go for a solo trail run in order to start preparing for my next BIG race.....drum roll please.....
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| "Extremely Difficult" |
This year the
McKay Hollow Madness Trail Run is going to be a 25K (increased a bit from years past). There's a McKay Hollow trail, and this race includes that section, among many others, so I decided I would explore it a bit. I had planned to go out two miles and then come back.
I knew it wasn't going to be the nice, mostly flat, plateau loops I've been used to, but I was woefully unprepared for what I found. It's not a running trail...it's barely a hiking trail!! The pictures won't do justice to what I saw in the .12 miles I ventured out on my own before deciding I needed a hand to hold in order to check it out further!!
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| Trail?? |
Have I lost my mind? Am I really going to do this race?? What on Earth am I thinking?
Well...maybe I have lost my mind. I am really going to do this race. And...I'm not really sure, except that it's "only" 15.5 miles....just 2.4 miles further than I've already gone. I love the trails. There's a 5 hour cut off, but that seems very doable, especially since there are several runnable portions (according to the
detailed coarse description). I think I can do it....just not today!
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| "DANGER" |
After my trail fail, I ran a couple of miles on the cushy plateau. I'm not sure how exactly I'll train for the race since I know Daisy and our third will NEVER go out there with me (and I can't say that I blame them at all!). I'm going to have to drag my husband out there on a hike so I can get a better look at the course. (No, we won't go all 15 miles of it, but if I can at least see parts of it I'll be "happy".)
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| It's worse than it looks. |
....BTW, this isn't my next race, I have four before then: The Turkey Trot (hopefully) on Thanksgiving (in Blufton, SC), the Rudolf Run (5K) on December 18th, the
Rock 'n Roll Mardi Gras Half on February 13th (NEW ORLEANS HERE I COME!!) and the Rocket Run 10 miler on March 19th. McKay Hollow is March 26th. Yes, in case you missed it...I'm NOT running Rocket City on December 11th. I don't think I actually ever posted it here, but I decided some time ago that it was too lofty a goal and I let go of it. I don't know if that will be my first marathon or not. Ask me after March 26th!
Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D
McKay was my first trail race. I did not have any idea what those trails were like. I had run nice crushed graveled trails at Pt Mallard, in Decatur. McKay was a rude awakening. I have run it twice and will run again this year. Scoping out the trails is a real good idea. If I had done that the first time, I might of passed on the race. I am glad I did run it and I am hooked on trail running now.
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