With getting back to the daily grind, I basically put off exercising this week. I had only ran 2 miles on Wednesday. So I was looking forward to hitting my local trails this morning for a 15k. I had originally signed up for a D.IN.O. 15k months ago, but they had to move the course an extra hour outside of Indy due to flooding. It didn't fit my schedule but the race director was kind enough to transfer my entry to the next one.
I give this race a D+ for a few reasons. First, the course was poorly marked. It was a pretty easy trail to follow but not being familiar with the terrain at all, it would have been nice to see some markers maybe every 300yds or so. They did block off major trail intersections. But as the racers got distanced from each other, I was constantly worried I had somehow made a wrong turn. Felt like I was going in circles at one point. Second, just after mile 5, a tree root jumped out of the trail and tripped me! Swear! My first ever DF - Did Fall, during a race. I went down pretty hard. The runner behind me stopped to help me up, very nice of her. Luckily there wasn't much carnage. A 1/2 bent back finger nail and some scrapes on the right knee. I really thought it'd be worse. It did slow me down for the rest of the race as my right hip felt like it just got stretched out 2 inches. Third, the aid station had filled most cups with Gatorade (which clearly doesn't sit well with Fuller guts) so when I went by for water, they weren't ready and I didn't want to wait. Urg. Finished in 1:22:51. I was ok with that and ready for some water. I barely got 1 cup of water out of the 8 coolers that were set up. So fourth, they ran out of water. It wasn't like I was anywhere near the last racer, probably top 50. But the 5k racers must have been really thirsty as they waited for us. Lastly, and this is my fault for trusting other runners I'm racing with, I had stashed my shirt, water bottle, sunglasses, paperwork, and iPod next to the parking lot trail sign because I couldn't park up near registration. When I returned, someone had stolen my $5 Walmart shades. Really? WTF? Did they look at my pile of crap and say, "I'll feel the least bad stealing someone's shades." Dick.
Only good parts of the race... I got some exercise and won a door prize of new DeFeet socks. Woo hoo!
