Cross Timbers Trail Race - 02/18/2017 - Gordonville, TX
This has been my favorite trail race so far! I loved it! We got to packet pickup with plenty of time on Saturday morning and picked up our packets, shirts, etc. I guess we dawdled a little too long when we got back to the cars to drop off our packets and gear up for the run because we were late to the start! I had to laugh at us because the runners had to run a small loop around the parking lot before getting on the single track trail but there was no distinguishable start line so we were just running around like a bunch of airheads trying to figure out where to start from, going against the flow of runner traffic. On top of that, I hadn’t attempted to start my watch yet and it still needed to locate satellites, so from the very start I had to say “oh well, it’s just for fun!”
I ended up at the very back of the pack when the single track stuff started, that was a site! I have always considered myself slow, but now I had the opportunity to see what the people in THE VERY BACK did. It seemed that some of them weren’t there for a trail “race” at all. Some people were in cargo pants and wearing normal backpacks, not the hydration vest and breathable athletic wear I was used to seeing. It made me wonder what their story was, are the back from the military, preparing to go to the military, trying to train for their son’s trip to Philmont this summer, are they fighting their way back from addiction or depression and just trying to get outside with whatever opportunity they can find to motivate them? I supposed the possibilities are endless. I know we all do this for different reasons, and while I always noticed the different sizes and ages that these events attracted I never noticed the types of personalities attracted to a trail race. When I looked at the people around me, I felt less like I was running a trail “race” and more like I was awkwardly walking through a high school cafeteria of people trying to find themselves. I know it sounds like I’m being critical of the people around me, but I’m not, I was truly intrigued by what brought those people out to the trails that morning.
On to the actual run . . . I met two women and since I don’t know anything about them and they’re not a part of my daily life, I’ll use their real first names. Gretchen was really cool, she paced someone on a 100-mile race before and I thought that was so neat! She said is was in the dark and going slow, but for some reason pacing, someone on a 100 seems more intimidating to me than actually attempting the whole thing myself! I told her about my TransRockies goals and my experience with volunteering last year and she was so excited that she decided to volunteer this year, I don’t know if she really will, but it was cool that she got that excited to be interested in it. I know I’ll remember her name, unfortunately, she probably won’t be wearing the same hot pink apparel to help me identify her, but in August I’ll be keeping my ears peeled for a volunteer named Gretchen. The other woman I met and ran with for a while was Angelique, and I remember her name because, well, duh, it’s close to mine. She was out just having a nice time. She said that she was consistently getting pain in her leg at mile 7 so she was hoping to not have that happen that day and to work through that. She had done an Ultra Ragnar, which I thought was AMAZING. I know it’s judgey of me, but when I’m in the 13.1 distance I really expect to meet average people, I guess since it’s a stepping stone for me and my bigger goals, I don’t really expect to be impressed by their experiences and both of these women proved me wrong.
Unfortunately, the gap grew bigger between Gretchen, Angelique, and myself and I never found out if Angelique had pain at mile 7 or discussed any more of Gretchen’s goals and experiences.
I pulled ahead of them around mile 6 and ran by myself most of the remainder. I didn’t get passed by anyone except marathoners and I was pretty excited about that. Around mile 8 I came up on someone I didn’t know would be there but was excited to pass, and I knew C would be glad I passed this person also. I think my motivation to continue walk/jogging the course was so that the person wouldn’t catch me.
There was a lot of ups and downs on the course, but they were short. It was one million times better than Rough Creek. Cross Timbers was in the trees the trail was a nice dirt singletrack that I like and the weather was great! It weaved in and out along the bank of Lake Texoma, and it was beautiful. I anticipated being done at 4 hours since that’s what Rough Creek and TransRockies Day 4 were and I was right, 4:03:22 for 13.8 miles. When I was finished I was admittedly disappointed that my time was “just as slow” as August and September of last year. I felt like I had really upped my training and I had hopes that I would start seeing results. However, I FELT so much better after this race than I did after Rough Creek and EM said that she thought this course was a lot more difficult. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was nearly THE SAME elevation gain as day 4 of TransRockies and 1,200 feet MORE than Rough Creek, and the fact that I ENJOYED it was a win in my book, I felt affirmed that my training is paying off even if my time on the clock was pretty close to the same.
This has been my favorite trail race so far! I loved it! We got to packet pickup with plenty of time on Saturday morning and picked up our packets, shirts, etc. I guess we dawdled a little too long when we got back to the cars to drop off our packets and gear up for the run because we were late to the start! I had to laugh at us because the runners had to run a small loop around the parking lot before getting on the single track trail but there was no distinguishable start line so we were just running around like a bunch of airheads trying to figure out where to start from, going against the flow of runner traffic. On top of that, I hadn’t attempted to start my watch yet and it still needed to locate satellites, so from the very start I had to say “oh well, it’s just for fun!”
I ended up at the very back of the pack when the single track stuff started, that was a site! I have always considered myself slow, but now I had the opportunity to see what the people in THE VERY BACK did. It seemed that some of them weren’t there for a trail “race” at all. Some people were in cargo pants and wearing normal backpacks, not the hydration vest and breathable athletic wear I was used to seeing. It made me wonder what their story was, are the back from the military, preparing to go to the military, trying to train for their son’s trip to Philmont this summer, are they fighting their way back from addiction or depression and just trying to get outside with whatever opportunity they can find to motivate them? I supposed the possibilities are endless. I know we all do this for different reasons, and while I always noticed the different sizes and ages that these events attracted I never noticed the types of personalities attracted to a trail race. When I looked at the people around me, I felt less like I was running a trail “race” and more like I was awkwardly walking through a high school cafeteria of people trying to find themselves. I know it sounds like I’m being critical of the people around me, but I’m not, I was truly intrigued by what brought those people out to the trails that morning.
On to the actual run . . . I met two women and since I don’t know anything about them and they’re not a part of my daily life, I’ll use their real first names. Gretchen was really cool, she paced someone on a 100-mile race before and I thought that was so neat! She said is was in the dark and going slow, but for some reason pacing, someone on a 100 seems more intimidating to me than actually attempting the whole thing myself! I told her about my TransRockies goals and my experience with volunteering last year and she was so excited that she decided to volunteer this year, I don’t know if she really will, but it was cool that she got that excited to be interested in it. I know I’ll remember her name, unfortunately, she probably won’t be wearing the same hot pink apparel to help me identify her, but in August I’ll be keeping my ears peeled for a volunteer named Gretchen. The other woman I met and ran with for a while was Angelique, and I remember her name because, well, duh, it’s close to mine. She was out just having a nice time. She said that she was consistently getting pain in her leg at mile 7 so she was hoping to not have that happen that day and to work through that. She had done an Ultra Ragnar, which I thought was AMAZING. I know it’s judgey of me, but when I’m in the 13.1 distance I really expect to meet average people, I guess since it’s a stepping stone for me and my bigger goals, I don’t really expect to be impressed by their experiences and both of these women proved me wrong.
Unfortunately, the gap grew bigger between Gretchen, Angelique, and myself and I never found out if Angelique had pain at mile 7 or discussed any more of Gretchen’s goals and experiences.
I pulled ahead of them around mile 6 and ran by myself most of the remainder. I didn’t get passed by anyone except marathoners and I was pretty excited about that. Around mile 8 I came up on someone I didn’t know would be there but was excited to pass, and I knew C would be glad I passed this person also. I think my motivation to continue walk/jogging the course was so that the person wouldn’t catch me.
There was a lot of ups and downs on the course, but they were short. It was one million times better than Rough Creek. Cross Timbers was in the trees the trail was a nice dirt singletrack that I like and the weather was great! It weaved in and out along the bank of Lake Texoma, and it was beautiful. I anticipated being done at 4 hours since that’s what Rough Creek and TransRockies Day 4 were and I was right, 4:03:22 for 13.8 miles. When I was finished I was admittedly disappointed that my time was “just as slow” as August and September of last year. I felt like I had really upped my training and I had hopes that I would start seeing results. However, I FELT so much better after this race than I did after Rough Creek and EM said that she thought this course was a lot more difficult. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was nearly THE SAME elevation gain as day 4 of TransRockies and 1,200 feet MORE than Rough Creek, and the fact that I ENJOYED it was a win in my book, I felt affirmed that my training is paying off even if my time on the clock was pretty close to the same.
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