Prickly Pear Don't Fence Me In 12K Trail Race Report... I belong here, sort of...

As I said in the last entry, I took some time off after CNC to finish writing and to take a cross country road trip to Montana with AM... She is interning in Helena all summer, so I decided to hit the road with her after the semester ended... She had found a trail race in Helena that fell on the weekend that we'd be there, so of course, I signed up thinking it'd be no big deal... (Initially, I had considered doing the 30k... thank God I didn't do that)...

During our trip, I made it a priority to get in runs at all of the places that we stopped, most notably the Badlands in South Dakota and in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming... We hiked a good bit too, which helped keep the legs and heart active... Running at altitude is absolutely no joke... I loved it, but it felt like my heart was beating through my chest every time I ran... and I kinda liked it...

But nothing... I repeat, NOTHING, could have prepared me for this race... I could have spent a week in Helena alone, running those trails, but I still wouldn't have been ready...

During our trip, AM decided fairly last minute that she was going to run the 5k... Mind you, this was AFTER I had already signed up for the 12k... Lil' stinker!

The day before the race was spent moving AM into her apartment, getting her settled in, exploring the city a little bit, and of course, a Beer Fest... The race wasn't slated to start until like, 10:00 am, which to me, was completely foreign... but MUCH welcomed! Sleep late, ease into the morning, run the race, then drink beer after... seemed easy enough...

I was impressed with the number of people who showed up to the race... Much like the atmosphere of Lafayette during the 5k that I run every Thanksgiving, there was an energy in the air that made you feel like Helena is made for this kinda thing... Everyone who was there was super fit and seemed like they genuinely enjoyed what they were doing...

So, here's how my race panned out....

The group gathers... I'd say there were at least around 200 people for the 12k... As we line up, I look straight ahead and see that we're hit with a pretty substantial hill right outta the gate... Great...

I knew that this race was going to be brutal because a) I'd never run a trail race before and b) I was at 4,000+ of elevation... not for the faint of heart, that's for sure...

I resolved to just run... just run for the experience... just run for the pleasure of running a trail race in a gorgeous part of the country... Good thing I did, because I got crushed by the race itself...

What I remember of this race (I'm writing this a month after the race itself and now, in two parts) is that it was tough... really really tough... The switchbacks destroyed me, and I walked some of the uphills... There was a girl behind me for most of the way that sounded like she was having a constant orgasm because she was asthmatic and was having an attack... Kinda funny, but sad too...

I managed to cross the finish line in 1:26:26... All in all, it was a good race...

Check out my splits here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/178037162

thanks for reading...