Sunday, September 09, 2007

Denise Not only Fell, she really fell!

Now, for those who are puzzling over the title of this entry, look again. You will see that DNF is bold. You may know what it means, you may not. DNF stands for Did Not Finish. This is what you are marked in a race when you fail to complete the course for any reason. I was DNF for my trail half. There are loads of firsts for everyone and today was my first, probably not my last, DNF.

I had signed up for my Trail Half Marathon because it was local, it was a Half and it sounded like fun. Do a Half running through a park, in the trees, shaded with nothing but women. Who would not want to do this? Sign me up.

I read the website, I knew it was a trail...really, I did! It says right on the website "Forested, rolling terrain. Primarily single-track dirt trail" Well...that sounds pleasant enough, doesn't it? I just was not prepared for what this *really* meant.

It all started innocently enough. We gathered in the parking lot and the men sang "Happy Trails" to us and we were off. We ran along the road for about a mile and then were directed off the road onto a path. All was still good for about another mile...when the trail became more narrow, trees got closer, rocks took on a life of their own, roots would snake out across the trail in front of me and I am sure I saw a mountain goat merrily trotting along the 2" wide trail at some point. They would leave the path to leap among the Alps that were hidden in the trees. I knew before mile 3 that this was a recipe for disaster for me.

I can trip on a flat surface, on a calm day, while walking. Put me on an ungroomed path in the woods with rocks, leaves, twigs and roots...with sweat dripping into my eyes and it is a given I am going to take a nosedive.

My first meeting with the dirt/leaves took place right about the 3.5 mile mark. I did the cartoon fast run to attempt to catch myself and just managed to scrape my knees a bit more than needed. I brushed myself off and pushed on. I was nervous and slow before the fall, after the fall, I was becoming even more so, keeping my eye on any potential tripping hazard.

By the 6 mile mark, I had gone down numerous times. I must have stumbled on a passing gnat and took a pretty hard dive down. This one was hard enough to keep me down in a pathetic heap for a moment while I assessed if I was still alive. Since I had tears leaking, I assumed that meant I was alive so I cautiously made my way to my feet. I had cracked my head, landed on my hands, scraped my knees, ripped my number off and my hat was beside me. I was pretty sure my thumb was sprained.

At this point, I was fairly sure that if I continued on, it was just a matter of time before I fell again and actually would become seriously injured. Call me a weenie but I made the decision to walk when the trail was dicey and run if I felt it was okay. This meant that I was walking mostly with tiny areas where I could run a few feet. Even walking, I was tripping and crashing into trees. Graceful I am not. Put in there being tired and I probably was the cause of a lot of the tripping, not lifting my feet up enough.

Sooo...I did not make the cut off point in the time needed to get an official time. I was about 5 minutes over the time limit. I could have continued on the course and finished the entire 13.1 miles but truly, by that point, stick a fork in me, I was done. As it was, I did complete over 8 miles, which given the circumstance, I am incredibly pleased with.

Overall, it was an interesting race. I think I should have picked an easier trail to run a Half on for my first trail Half but it was still a good run. Now I know where it is, I can go out and practice on it. Yes, practice. Now I am determined to not let the course beat me next year. At least that is what I am thinking right now.

Today, I am sporting lovely bruises on my head, both knees, on my shins and above my knees in addition to various scratches and cuts. Did I mention the bruise on my palm and very sore thumb? I must have jarred a shoulder too. Ouchie.

Denise and trail running ....not a very good mix but darn it, I am stubborn enough to try it again just to prove to myself I *can* do it!

I did get to meet two fellow Forum members at the run. Becki ran the race (finished in just over 2:30...woo hoo!) while Alec ran a different trail in the park since he was not entered. There were a lot of running skirts out there as well.

This race was going to be my last official "running" race until after the Goofy. Starting on Monday, I am going to a run/walk training program to prepare for the Goofy. My first offical race using this method is going to be the MCM 10K in about 6-7 weeks.

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