Race Recap, so much Crap!

POT O GOLD Race Report;
Have you ever ordered a meal and after a couple bites knew it was not what you should have ordered. Maybe you were not as hungry as you thought.
Maybe it was not what you expected.
Maybe it started off good but then it was no longer appetizing after a few bites.
HOWEVER, for what every reason you felt you needed to finish your plate. And as you finished those last few bites you think "OH, what have I done, that was awful!"

Pretty much sums up my 4mile Pot O Gold race experience!

TOP 10 EXCUSES of why I SUCKED!

• It was the accumulation of a 50 mile run week.
• I worked Friday and Saturday, booked, on my feet for 9 hours in heels.
• Ran in a white out with snow flakes as large as Satan. Pretty sure Satan spewed defeat all over me.
• My stupid watch was on the wrong data screen and I couldn't see my pace, not that it was anything to look at.
• I took off too fast the first mile. And it wasn't really that fast...
• No stretching or warming up, we were a little late
• Gun start time, you would think I would remember this as I place myself in the middle of the pack.
• My kilt felt hot and heavy, it sure was cute though.
• My hamstrings were tight and irritable from 2 separate leg days.
• The voices in my head sang "You suck, just walk!"

Kirt runs in all the local races. He is always a gem to see.

This may have been the first time I ever wanted to DNF. But it was a 4 miler and they had a walking group.. WHO DNF's a 4 mile Fun RUN? Totally CRAP!

RUNDOWN:

Distance: 4mile

Time: Gun Time: 33.05

Place female 40-44: 1st of 31

Female Masters: 2nd of 118

YES...You are reading that correct! My slowest Pot O Gold and I placed!

ME, Jeff, Lacey, Melissa and Holly

I love seeing so many of my favorite people! I got to see Robin, Kirt and my lil buddy Jeff ( I may have pressured him into the suffering on Wednesday)  on top of going with Melissa, Lacey and Holly. The Finish and seeing everyone was way more fun!

Glass City LONG RUN:

Lacey and I struggle with attention deficit as much in life as we do running. Neither of us can run a route more than a couple times.

We changed it up and ran the PAINT CREEK TRAIL adding on the CLINTON RIVER TRAIL.

Paint Creek Trail, if you catch it in the beginning is 8.9 miles. We picked it up on Atwater Rd in Lk Orion, running it until it ended in Rochester near University Dr.

We had to do a little jog through downtown Rochester to pick up the Clinton River Trail. Both trails are very flat. They run along the water. The trees are still bland without buds or greenery but the blue skies were reflecting off the flowing river. I am really looking forward to training this a lot more for Hennepin100. It should be beautiful in another couple weeks.

Nonetheless....Both trails were a complete sucky mucky mess. A little birdie warned me, But Lacey and I both didn't want to run the back roads.

The trails were being enjoyed by walkers, runners, romantics, bikers and although we didn't see any for ourselves, horseback riders. We did see a WHOLE LOT of gigantic horse poo. "Anita, if dog owners are supposed to clean up there dogs poo, I think the horse owners need to clean up this POO!"
We saw so much horse crap on the trail.

We did pretty good at keeping our pace. I had to work a little harder than Lacey. The last 6 miles I was over it. My shoes weighed as much as that horse poop with all the mud in them and they pretty much look like it too. Lacey tried to get me to chat but I didn't even feel like whining out loud.

It was a beautiful day out there. As we finished up, I was beginning to realize why I was struggling. The path is so flat that it just never ends. There is nothing to break  it up that you can see. This was messing with me. I convinced Lacey to walk each mile for a few seconds. This helped me stretch out and give me something to run towards. You could hardly run through the mud,so it was a bit of a reprieve for me.

Rundown:

Distance 20.01

Pace: 9:24

Time: 3:03

It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to. ~Annie Gottlier

We had to bump our miles by 2 on our long run today.

 Then I somehow lost a mile at mile 15.

Todays run was a mixture of want to and have to. Its fun until its just not fun anymore.

The first 15 miles was all easy, I wanted it.

I cant say the same for the last 5 though!

I just put my head towards Lacey and had her run me in like a dog!

So thankful for the sun, the path and my partner!

Crap race or running around crap, between these two runs, so MUCH CRAP!

Anita..

WAIT WAIT...I'm pooped out, done writing..BUT something really COOL happened at Pot O Gold. I will share it tomorrow!