Indian Run at Hocking Hills 20K

By Gaby -
This is a random pic from the Hocking Hills Park's website. I did not take this man's picture and unfortunately, do not have any pics of me running it, but I swear that I did!

Wow.  What a race!  Truly one of the best--and hardest--races I've done so far.  I wish I had taken pictures but I was so nervous/excited for the race, I didn't even think about taking pictures!  I have a feeling, though, that pictures wouldn't do the scenery there justice.

I think I only got 3 or so hours of sleep last night--I was so worried about not hearing my alarm that it actually kept me wide awake:P  Anyways, I was up around 5:40am, hopped in the shower (yeah, I like to take showers before AND after a race, that's just how I roll), got dressed and then had my coffee and toast w/almond butter.  My friends showed up at 7am and we headed to Hocking Hills.  We arrived on site around 8:30 and picked up our bibs and chip timers.  There were a few waves of 20Kers, so by the time all four of us were ready, it was just us and 3 or 4 other people who started.
I had my water belt on and was wearing a long sleeve shirt that my friend lent me b/c it was cold this morning, but as soon as we started running, I was regretting wearing the extra layer and the weight of my belt.  I was last behind my two friends but caught up with one of them around mile 2 after taking advantage of some really steep, curvy roads.  But that didn't last too long; as soon as I caught up with my friend, we took a turn into "Steel Hill"--the infamous hill I heard about.  As we were running up, I didn't know that this was THE hill at the time, and I tried running but got cramps in my calves and started breathing heavily.  I had no other choice but to walk.  Most people were walking this and when we turned a corner and there was MORE steep hill, I realized that this was the hill I had heard so much about.  I think there might be only one runner in the race's history that has run up this hill without stopping to walk.
After that, we were mostly running in the woods encountering different terrain: muddy, rocky, grassy, flat, steep...everything you could ask for in a foot race!
I wasn't wearing a watch or anything, so basically I had no idea how far into the race I was until I asked another runner passing by who told me I was around mile 8 (he was doing the 60K!).  I've said before, I have no sense of direction or time apparently when I'm running, so I could probably just keep going on and on if it weren't for some knowledge of where I was exactly.  And sure enough, when I approached the last mile or so, and onlookers told us we were "almost there", that's the moment my legs started tightening up and I felt even more fatigued knowing that the end was near.
This is the longest distance I've EVER done, so I'm really pleased with this race.  The official results aren't in yet, but my friend says I was behind her by 5 or 6 minutes and estimated my time to be 2'23".

The other nice thing about the Indian Run is that they provide runners with complimentary massages, so I got one and it felt INCREDIBLE, lol.  Wish it could have lasted longer.  After all that, we came home, said goodbye to my friends and hubby, my brother and I went out for Greek food and now, I'm getting ready to take a nice, long nap:)

It was a perfect race with perfect weather, and I'm not feeling TOO bad overall, so hit me up with more races and more distance!

Nighty night!

Comments

Karen Bjork Kubin said…
Looks like a beautiful trail! Congratulations!
September 18, 2011 at 4:52 PM
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