Indian Run Race Report

That was so much fun!

Hit the road at 7 this morning to drive the 1.25 hrs to Hocking HIlls for the Indian Run(s). This weekend my training schedule called for 20 miles, so I decided to substitute a 10K and a 20K on hilly trails and call it even.

Arrived at the lodge around 8:30, nicely got registered and on the bus that would take us out to the 10K start. Because it’s trail running, there was no set start time so the trails would not be too congested. We could start anytime between 9 and 11, and it was all chip-timed. That was how I was going to manage to run both; I started the 10K at right after 9 and just had to be sure to start the 20K before 11 (it started where the 10K ended).

I chatted with a few women before we set off. One of them had run the 20K before and she warned me about Steel Hill… I’d heard alot about Steel Hill, so I wasn’t looking forward to it. We set off in a wave of 6 or 7, and before too long I left the women behind. I knew I had a lot of running ahead of me, so I wasn’t too aggressive.

There were a few places where I wasn’t sure what route to take, and at one point a guy I was following was going the wrong way, until I noticed some orange flags on the other side of some (dried) creek. So we did some off-roading.

There were a few water stops, which was nice. It was odd b/c they didn’t have mile markers to let you know how far you’d gone, but the water stops were measured (2.59 miles til the next stop, 1.14 miles til the next stop — yes, they were that precise). I decided to take it easy and walked through each stop, even stopping to drink most of the water before throwing the cup away.

I was actually surprised, there was a fair amount of the run on the road. It disappointed me, actually. At one point I caught up to some guy as we were running up some stairs. I asked him “who put these here?” He chuckled and said “I’m more concerned about what’s coming up next”. We got up the stairs and were spat out onto the road. He told me to go ahead, and I asked if that meant he knew something I didn’t know. He told me it was a mile long incline. As I trudged up the road, I decided that they should have made this a 5 mile run, because this last mile on a state route with cars tearing by wasn’t fun.

10K time: 56:12 – 9:04 pace
First in my age group, 4th woman overall

I took some water, a gu (my 2nd of the day), an orange slice, a quick bathroom break and was on the 20K starting line by 10:15.

I started out feeling reasonably strong, at the front of my wave. I told myself I’d already warmed up 🙂 We ran up the road… and down the road.. and up the road.. and down the road. I was passed by my first two runners of the day (they started in my heat). The girl seemed knock-kneed and I wondered if I’d catch her later. We were easing down a steep incline and she’d kick it. I felt sorry for her quads, and I wondered if this was what the first leg at Hood to Coast was like. I couldn’t believe how long we were running on the road, and I decided that there was no way I’d ever do the 60K here. I’d have rather run the 10K 6 times than this.

Eventually we turned off the road and there was Steel Hill. My legs were already tight from holding myself back down the long steep hill, and I didn’t even attempt to run. I saw the people who’d passed me far ahead, kicking it up the hill. I knew they were hardcore, and I probably wouldn’t see them again. I didn’t. At the top of the hill was a water stop, and I asked how far we’d gone. They didn’t know. My watch said 32:xx so I hoped we were over 3 miles (people had told me Steel Hill was the first 2nd or 3rd mile). I kept trucking. I was passed by one other runner at this point.

Pine needles are the nicest surface to run on. Hands down.

Eventually things started to look familiar, and I came to the part where the 10K and 20K run the same route. That was a great moment, because I knew I had a good 7 miles in, and I knew what was coming. I hit a waterstop at 1:04 that had been 9:30 into the first 10K, so I thought I had potentially 45/50 min left. I certainly wasn’t as fresh as I had been the first time, but I felt pretty good overall. I think I was so excited about this fact, I forgot to take my next gu. I realized it a few min later and even considered turning around. I thought better of that idea, and kept going.

This time I found my way through the trails, and it was good to have things jogging my memory “this is where that guy slipped”, “this is where I took off” to keep me going. I walked a tiny bit coming up to the last water stop, took my gu, and started off… in the wrong direction. Luckily the water guy noticed before too long and they yelled at me. What the heck? As I thanked him and turned back around I said “the sad thing is, I already came by here once today”. I was running through a campground and some guy asked if I was doing the 10K. I said “20” and I think he was impressed. If only he knew I was actually close to mile 15.

When I hit the trails again after the campground bit, I knew I was pretty close. My mind was still keeping track of the course by earlier events “this is where that kid was” “up there is the hill where I saw the guy in the red shirt”. I did find that I was being less careful about my footing. Often after running for a few hours, my mind starts to wander a bit, I disassociate. This doesn’t seem like a really good thing when you’re running trails. I was ok, but rather than concentrating on what I was doing, I think I just slowed down so that I didn’t slip or anything.

Oh look, there’s those darned steps. Almost done!

I don’t know if Red Shirt Guy actually knew that that last stretch was a mile, but I restarted my watch anyway. I was at 1:46:xx. My goal for the 20K had been sub-2 hrs, to run the same pace as for the 10K would have been 1:52. I knew the 1:52 wasn’t going to happen (and had never even seriously considered it). Now I was stuck firmly in that range, with a mile (?) to go. Felt good. Then I turned a corner and there was a herd of runners up ahead. A sly grin came over me: they had no idea I’m sure they were roadkill.

I passed one guy when he slowed to a walk, told him he was going great, ran a few more metres and slowed to a walk myself. I knew the finish chute wasn’t too far ahead and I wanted to finish strong. Set myself a ‘restart’ point and when I got there, I gunned it. Passed three of the runners before I even hit the chute. One more as I turned into the final stretch, and up 150m ahead was a guy close to the gate. This was going to be fun.

I had my homemade “medal” placed over my head by the “Indian” just as he was stopping his watch. Sorry, guy!

20K time: 1:56:38 – 9:24 pace
Second in my age group, 8th woman out of 53
I felt pretty good overall, and I was happy with my time. I was glad that I seemed to maintain a reasonably steady pace through the two races.

I hung out for a little bit, and they posted the 5K and 10K results. Considered getting a massage, but there was a bit of a line so I just headed out. The drive home was nice and relaxing; I stopped at an antique mall/flea market, just relaxed and enjoyed what I had accomplished.

Boy, imagine how great I’ll feel in three weeks with what I accomplish then… Taper Time!