2012 Continental Divide Trail 10k- USATF National Trail 10k Championship & USATF NC State Championship

I managed to leave work at noon & get in a quick road 4 miler, shower & a spot of lunch before heading out to the race. I rode to the National trail 10k race site on Friday with coach & friend Chad Newton, Laura Raintree & Sarah. It was a beautiful, sunny day so we took a scenic route along a section of the Blueridge Parkway to admire the views. We arrived just in time for the pasta dinner. There, we caught up with fellow runners, Megan Kimmel, Jason & Alison Bryant & many others. I was starving! I had wolfed down a double chocolate, walnut cookie before we arrived to the dinner & was now helping myself to two plates of pasta, a salad, roll & dessert. 

After dinner, we checked into our rooms at the Higgins lodge. There I chatted with roommate, Megan Kimmel. It was super quiet so with the windows open, we could hear the rain beginning to fall outside as well as the sound of crickets. I read a few pages of my book & fell straight to sleep.

Race morning was weird... First of all, I got to sleep in until 7am! The Men's race started at 9am & the Women's race at 10:15am. I got ready, had breakfast & headed out to get my race packet. I felt a little lazy & lethargic just walking around.

The Men's race kicked off & was exciting to watch! It got me super motivated! I watched as Chad Newton & Jason Bryant exchanged places back & forth numerous times.

 

I started a warm-up & ran back & forth along various sections of the course to watch their race. Meanwhile, I was able to run & chat with Laura Raintree & fellow Inov8 teammate member, Maria Dazlot.

 

Chris Young came to the race & brought my training partner & 4-legged baby, Olive. That made me smile!!  Olive is a black feist/Jack Russell mix. She is a runner with the heart of a warhorse! She gives 110% in her runs & would rather die than get beat. Needless to say, she leads all the runs.

The sun warmed up the temperature by 10am & the finishing men reported that the trail was muddy & slick from last night's rain. I remained relaxed. I was wearing the Zebra (antifog) Julbo sunglasses to protect my eyes & focus on the footing & wearing the Inov8 Xtalon 190s that are like claws to maximize my grip & prevent me from wasting energy & sliding on the trail.

 

The race started at 1015am & by 600 meters in, Megan was in the lead & I was in 2nd.

After a few minutes, I couldn't hear footsteps or breathing behind me but never looked back to see how close or far away the next person was to me. I just ran solo with Megan out in the lead. Due to the nature of the course, spectators could see the race at several points. Just as I would feel myself relaxing & getting close to letting off the gas, I would hear Olive bark at me, dying to run & push the pace. It gave me a boost as I thought of her running drive & spirit & pushed myself harder. I could be a slacker. This carried on until I thought my legs could do no more.

Somehow, I was able to really work the downhills & flats & try to do my best at the climbs with dead legs. Olive was at the top of the steepest climb, barking at me again. I gritted my teeth & gave one last push.

 

 

Thank goodness, the finish line was about 200 meters away! I ended up finishing 2nd in 49:35.

Megan was 1st in 48:21 & Teammate Maria Dazlot was 3rd in 52:58. Results can be found at: http://www.continentaldividetrailrace.com/Welcome.html .

 

My time was 2 minutes & 13 seconds faster than when I ran in 2009. My splits were: 610, 802, 953, 634, 748 & 1102.

 

Olive greeted me at the finish & jumped into my arms for kisses. She pushed me to my limit! I feel relieved, excited & blessed!  What a great day!

 

 

 





 



 

Top 8 females





 

 





2012 NACAC Mountain Running Championships

The 2012 NACAC mountain running Championships were held in British Columbia with a venue on Cypress Mountain.

Team USA members were Joe Gray Ryan Woods, Tommy Manning, Jared Scott, Brandy Erholtz, Amber Moran (me), Michele Suszek & Maria Dazlot.

The Canadian Team was stacked since this race doubled as the NACAC championship & selection race for the Canadian Team for Worlds. The course was primarily uphill for a total of 11.13k with 1375.9 meters Elevation Gain and 510.8 meters Elevation Loss. The course consisted of  technical singletrack, boulder fields, meadows, mudpits, rock scramble & screaming descent for the finish.

On race morning, Team USA arrived to the race start for a warmup & strides. The air was humid but luckily cool...in the low 60s. The race started promptly at 9am & the race was on! The first section of the race was a 20% grade which quickly got the engine going. I started out the race in 4th place as I saw Brandy, Michelle & a Canadian woman run out ahead. I caught up to Michele & the Canadian before the first mile & was in second place. The course was super technical making the footing tricky. Luckily, I was wearing my Inov8 Xtalon 190s which took the worry of slipping away. Not only did this shoe match my USA outfit but it also gave me the grip that I needed for the wet roots, rocks & mud.

Maria & I ran together & took turns leading through the tricky sections since it was hard to look up for the course markings to make sure we were on the right path without falling. Did I mention that there were no aid stations in the race? I carried a gel & thank goodness it started drizzling rain & cooled the temperature to the 50s as we climbed the mountain. The boulder field & rock scramble was the toughest part of the race. Not only were the rocks slippery, each section had a drop-off cliff which could be treacherous if I made one slip of the hand or foot. The scramble/climb was a 40% + grade that went on for over a kilometer. Once I made it to the top, I felt like I had ran through the clouds to heaven. The temperature was cool & there were spots of snow on the mountaintop. I was smiling from the inside out! This was a rave run!

On the mountain top, the mud pit section was interesting. I chose to skirt around the edge since I wasn't for sure how deep the mud was. That was a good decision! I found out that a team member & a Canadian runner went through the center of the pit & got stick in the mud!

The technical sections were fun & so was the screaming downhill finish! I kind of knew what I was in for on this part since I was able to hike it a couple of days before the race. I was elated to finish 2nd for the silver & be a scorer for Team USA!

At the finish, I joined Brandy Erholz (NACAC champion) & watched as teammate Maria Dazlot finished 3rd & Michele Suszek finished 5th. We rounded out the competition for the Team Gold!! Woohoo!! It was a blessing to have such a wonderful experience & fantastic teammates. I'll cherish this experience forever.