8k Trail Race Recap

beautiful sunrise before the race started

Saturday I ran a race that was supposed to be 8k (just under 5 miles). It was the second year of a small fundraiser race, and the race director got a bit confused. Before we began he told us we'd do two loops through the trails and around the soccer fields. As I started the second loop I looked at my Garmin and realized there was no way I was going to be doing 5 miles- the loops just weren't long enough. I thought maybe it would be 6k, but it was a little shorter than that at 3.52 miles. After I caught my breath after finishing I asked some of the other runners if the race was short, or if my Garmin was having issues. They confirmed that the race was short. A little bit later the race director came over and apologized for the short race- we should have run 3 loops rather than just 2.

Despite the problems with the length of the race, I liked the course. It was fairly flat, with most of the course being double track through the woods and the rest of the course along the perimeter of some soccer fields. The surfaces were grass, dirt, and mulch, with minimal roots and rocks in the wooded trails. I can totally see myself running this race again.

I've been increasing my mileage lately, and I noticed the difference during this race. I was able to run the first 2 miles before I stopped to walk. I'd realized by that point that the race wasn't going to be 5 miles, and I thought about trying to run the whole race, but my legs were feeling too tired. I didn't sleep well the night before- waking up every hour does not make for a restful night's sleep. I was tired from the time I woke up, and my legs felt leaden for the whole first mile. They felt better the second mile, but exhaustion got the better of me. I walked most of the third mile and ran the last half mile or so.

3.52 miles in 41:07
   1st mile: 11:07
   2nd mile: 10:57
   3rd mile: 13:35
   .52 mile: 10:32 pace/5:30 actual

This was a super small race- only 19 or 20 participants, with some of those walking a 4k (though that would have been short as well). I was the last runner to finish the longer course, but there were several 8k walkers who finished after me, so I wasn't the last finisher overall. Though that has happened a couple other times :)

I'm still debating how to classify this race. It wasn't 8k (4.97 miles), it wasn't 5k (3.1 miles), and it wasn't 6k (3.7 miles). The numbers are just awkward: 3.52 miles is about 5.7k. I may have to just call it 3.5 miles.

Last week's mileage:

Monday- I walked 4.1 miles on the treadmill while switching laundry loads in and out (great use of time that I need to do again!)
Wednesday- I walked 2.75 miles on the treadmill & worked for a couple hours building pallet compost bins and shifting a brush pile from the site of our future greenhouse
Thursday- we walked around while visiting Ft Monroe and Yorktown (post to come), but not as much as I thought we would since it was raining. I didn't have my Garmin, so I'm guessing at .5 mile, though it was probably more. I had Ocean strapped to me, so I got a little bit more of a workout than I would have otherwise.
Saturday- 8k 3.52 mile trail race

35th race towards my 40 by 40 goal

	Date	Event	Distance	Event Type
1.	July 2015	4th of July 5k	5k	Pregnant
2.	August	4 Mile Fun Run	4 miles	Road Race
3.	September	All Terrain	5k	Mixed surface
4.	October	Hill Valley Half	13.1 miles	Virtual half marathon
5.	October	Corn Maze 5k	5k	Corn Maze
6.	October	Kilted Trail 5k	5k	Kilted race
7.	November	Trail Half	13.6 miles	Trail Half
8.	November	Turkey Trot	5k	Road Race
9.	December	Veteran’s 5k	5k	Mixed surface
10.	December	Army Virtual Marathon	26.23 miles	Virtual marathon
11.	January 2016	New Year’s Day 5k	5k	Road race
12.	February	Frostbite 5k	5k	Cross country race
13.	February	Mud Run	4.8 miles	Mud run
14.	March	4k Walk	4k	Walk
15.	March	March 5k	5k	Road race
16.	March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	5k	Virtual 5k Walk
17.	March	10 mile race	Not applicable	Water stop volunteer
18.	March	Obstacle Race	5k	Obstacle run
19.	April	Glow Run	5k	Glow Run, 1st of 2 races in 12 hours
20.	April	April 5k	5k	Pushing jogger, 2nd of 2 races in 12 hours
21.	April	Evening Run	5k	Evening run
22.	May	10k Kayak Race	10k	Kayak race
23.	May	May 5k	5k	1st of 2 races in same day
24.	May	Evening CC Race	5k	Evening cross country, 2nd of 2 races in same day
25.	June	June 5k	5k	Pushing jogger, 1st of 2 races in same day
26.	June	1 Mile Glow Run	1 mile	Pushing jogger with both boys, 2nd of 2 races in same day, glow run
27.	June	Vineyard 5k	5k	Vineyard run
28.	July	July 5k	5k	Road race
29.	August	Predict Your Time 5k	5k	Predict your time
30.	August	August 5k	5k	Road race
31.	August	NPS 100th Virtual 10k	10k	Virtual 10k run
32.	August	4 Mile Run	4 miles	Road race
33.	September	Labor Day 5k	5k	With all 3 kiddos
34.	September	1 Mile Color Run	1 mile	Color run, Sunshine’s first solo race, River’s first race
35.	September	3.5 Mile Trail Run	3.5 miles	Trail run

23rd race in 2016

	Month	Event	Time
1.	January	New Year’s Day 5k	33:01
2.	February	Frostbite 5k	37:37
3.	February	Mud Run	1:35:37
4.	March	4k Walk	33:19
5.	March	March 5k	33:49
6.	March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	1:01:30
7.	March	Obstacle Race	44:06
8.	April	Glow Run	35:16
9.	April	April 5k	41:15
10.	April	Evening Run	34:59
11.	May	May 5k	35:18
12.	May	Evening Cross Country Race	43:17
13.	June	June 5k	39:21
14.	June	1 Mile Glow Run	11:38
15.	June	Vineyard 5k	39:10
16.	July	July 5k	35:53
17.	August	Predict Your Time 5k	37:41
18.	August	August 5k	35:45
19.	August	NPS 100th Virtual 10k	1:49:17
20.	August	4 Mile Run	45:20
21.	September	Labor Day 5k	46:54
22.	September	1 Mile Color Run	18:25
23.	September	3.5 Mile Trail Run	41:07