the mama trail

The first ever Snowbowl Uphill Run was held last Sunday, put on by Team Run Flagstaff, and I am proud to have been a part of the event. The race began with a 1st mile challenge: the first male and female to get to the 1-mile marker (and then finish the race) won $50. I believe that payout was thanks to Fratelli’s. Sara Wagner handily took that race-within-the-race. I honestly couldn’t believe how fast she ran that first mile! My goal was to hold back in the first couple miles because I have such a tendency to be a jackrabbit and then blow to the moon half way through. I feel like I did a really good job of pacing myself. After about 2 miles I passed a couple guys, which never happens for me. At about mile 4, Paul Brinkman caught me. That guy is a truly impressive athlete. At over 50 years old, he can throw down with the best of them, and he always finds a way to get faster as the race goes on, be it a triathlon, run race, road race, anything. I stayed with him for a little bit, but I needed to use the 2nd aid station and he kept on blazing, eventually putting 1:20 on me by the top.

At mile 6, Mama Burger was set up for the burger challenge. The challenge was this: the first male and female to finish a burger and complete the race won $100. Sara had a big enough lead on me that she decided to go for it. Unfortunately for her, about half way through her burger I came around the corner. She scarfed a few more bites, trying to get the whole thing down, but chose to abort mission and dashed back on to the course in front of me with a mouthful of burger. I saw her spitting out burger and set my intention to take advantage of her full belly with my best last mile push. Alas, the calories, the break from running, or just her superior running ability and she crossed the finish line 37 seconds ahead of me.

Not only was there a payout for the first mile and the burger challenge, but also for the top 3 men and women. Equal pay all the way around for men and women! What a fantastic addition to the race. Plus, the race packet had awesome schwag: a beer glass (courtesy of Pay n Take of course) and a bunch of samples of Lara Bars, which are gluten free! A hard race, great prizes, and really great fun.

I felt really good in the race, with the exception of my calves. From about mile 3 my calves were absolutely on fire. I have never noticed my calves while running before. It has always been quad, hamstring, heart and lungs. Something about running uphill on the pavement and my calves were by far my biggest limiter. Monday I was totally hobbled, and today (Tuesday) I’m still hurting although getting better. It definitely opened my eyes to the number one thing I need to work on before Imogene.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 7:28 pm and is filed under blah blah blog, race reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.