Stepping backwards in time a bit - my first real trail running experience

Mud, rocks, hills, water crossings...my trail running initiation at the Folsom Sweetwater Trail Half

Having been on the trails less than a total of 10 times, I was rightfully nervous about my first trail half marathon.  Unchartered territory for me, unfamiliar terrain and feeling totally clueless didn't exactly put my mind at ease.  It had been raining for two days straight and all I could think about was how muddy and wet the course would be, especially since it was a much lower elevation and I knew the ground would be softer than we had in the Sierras. But if I'm going to do this thing called trail running then I had better get used to the idea that I can't control the weather nor can I control what the conditions would be come race day.

At the start in my brightly colored SparkleSkirt!

My husband and I arrived in Sacramento after driving through a torrential downpour over the Sierras. We headed for packet pick up where I would learn, much to my horror, that the race director had changed the half marathon course. I tell the lady giving me my bib that this is my first trail race and she immediately looked concerned then said I would want to listen to the change in course directions very carefully. Not a good sign? The race director started to explain and my head was spinning from all the instructions....look for the pink ribbons, now turn this way, follow for 3/4 of a mile, now look for red ribbons, make sure you don't go up the down path, don't go past that orange cone, pick up the pink ribbon path again, etc. Oooooookay. This was going to be an adventure. I told my coach I was pretty sure I was going to get lost and stuck in the mud.  She said "have fun" with a smiley face emoticon. Sigh. No sympathy there! Later that night, I kept looking out the window, waiting for the rain to stop. Nope. Mother Nature was going to make sure I got a proper introduction to running on something other than pavement. 



Gorgeous morning for a run

By morning, the rain had stopped but things were still very wet. Shoved a fig bar and banana down my throat, filled up my reservoir with Tailwind, gathered all my crap and we headed out to the start. The race started in a small parking lot near a place called Salmon Falls in Folsom. The RD once again explained the change in half marathon course, which still didn't make sense. We all lined up and when the race started, we proceeded to......walk. Single file on a very narrow single track for about 1/2 mile or so. No staggered start, huh? Hmmm. So the 10k, 8 milers, half marathoners, 18 milers, 25k and 50k all started out at the same time. We finally got to an area where it thinned out a bit. I had checked what I could online about the course, mainly the elevation and how technical the trail was; most of what I found pointed to about 300ft of elevation gain and not too technical. Wrong on both counts. Don't believe everything you read on the internet...lol.  After a few miles, I quickly realized the elevation gain of this race would be far MORE than 300ft. I have not been running trails long but my legs know the different between flat and hills. It was also a fairly technical course, with very narrow singletrack, muddy areas, some rocky spots and a water crossing (more on that later...hahaha). The course was absolutely gorgeous and while the rain made for some muddy running, it also made everything green and luscious.



My road shoes didn't like this part too much

The early morning fog emphasized the beauty of the area. At about mile 3, I came up on a rushing river. Okay, it was probably a creek but with all the rain, it looked more like a damn whitewater rafting river! I looked around for the bridge because don't most normal people use a bridge to cross water? Apparently, not when running a trail race. I noticed some folks sitting down and taking off their shoes then gingerly making their way across the knee high water. Hmmm. Well, I know I'm not taking off my damn shoes because it would be my luck to accidently drop one which would then be carried away by the current. I figure, what's the worst thing? I run the remaining 10 miles with sopping wet feet. I guess I will find out if I can run with wet feet (and I had dry socks in my pack so I could always stop and change into them). When in Rome...off I went into the water. Got across to the other side and started running again.



Where's the bridge??

Not bad, not bad. I could deal with the squishy shoes and socks. Praying for no blisters, I continued on. After about mile 5, I started to pay attention to the course more as I knew the turn off for the half marathoners was coming up. As I came around a corner, I saw the orange cone that I knew indicated the path I would be running down to meet up with the main trail again. Other half marathoners were coming back towards me on the main trail saying they got lost, there was no turn off, etc. I kept going, figuring I would just run out 6.5 or so and then turn around back to the finish, which would get me my 13 miles. As I passed mile 6, I saw the sign directing the half marathoners off to the left. Aha! I didn't get lost! I followed the red ribbons then saw where it picked up the main trail again.





Stunning green trails and I look forward to coming back here in April

Came up on another half marathoner who had passed me a while back, stating she must have gotten lost and couldn't find the turn off.  We fell in step together, one behind the other chatting about running, work and other various small talk. As we came up on the river (er, creek), I remarked how the course would probably be short as the creek was about 3 miles from the start and we were at about mile 8. That kind of sucked, knowing that my first trail half marathon would likely be more of a trail 10 miler. The water had gotten higher than it was the first time I crossed it but we managed to get across safely and continued heading back towards the start. It was starting to get warm up and it was then I realized a problem with using the damn reservoir in my pack for my hydration/fuel. I couldn't tell how much I had consumed and I was actually out. I had no water left and no Tailwind Well then. Doh. So I guess it was a good thing the course was short! 



My feet never looked like this after a road race...lol

As we came up the last ascent and crossed the finish, they yelled our time. I wasn't doing this for time, thankfully, so I didn't much care that it was slooooooow. I grabbed some snacks off the table, picked up my finisher's certificate - wait, certificate? Where the hell is my medal?  Hahaha. There's another difference between pavement and trail - I don't know of a half marathon I ever did where they didn't hand out medals. Not a big deal to me and it made me realize how much I've changed as a runner from the days that I refused to run a race, no matter what the distance, unless there was a medal at the end. I was just happy to be done and grateful to have had such a beautiful place to run.



Definitely not a pavement pounder today!

I would definitely love to run this trail again. Good thing since my 50k is on the same trail! It was a nice sneak peek to what I will be running on come April. And as far as the elevation goes, definitely NOT 300ft. It was1300ft. That will teach me to believe everything I see on the internet. I know now to be prepared for anything. I'm very proud that I not only started the race (with all the rain and the last minute course change, etc. I was very tempted to just not do it) but that I finished it with a smile on my face, loving it and wanting more.