On Saturday morning I completed the Wissahickon Trail Classic 10K! There were a lot of reasons that I did not feel particularly confident going into this race. Let me list them here:
- I had never run longer than 5.7 miles
- I don't usually run on trails - I pretty much stick to the roads around here
- I really HATE hills, and I knew there were a bunch on this route
- I had been on a low carb plan for about a week (a REALLY low carb plan!) trying to jump start some weight loss
- Finally, I knew it was going to be hot and humid (and it was!)
In my favor I had my last five months of training, no attachment to running this race fast, and lots of support from the WISH boards! I actually never seriously considered not doing it, which says something about how far I've come in this process.
I had recently read a race report from someone who had been on a low carb diet, so I knew I needed to give myself some extra carbs going into this race (in fact, I am now really questioning how well this plan is working for me at all, but that's another story entirely!). So Friday night I gave myself a pasta dinner, and I planned out my breakfast to include some extra carbs as well. I also made sure I had some Cliff Blocks with me, which also made a huge difference as you will see.
I hadn't walked the course, but I had looked at a terrain map of it pretty carefully. The park we were running through (the Wissahickon branch of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia) has two aspects to it. There is a wide path called Forbidden Drive that runs along Wissahickon Creek, which has a gently rolling but basically flat terrain. However, the creek is at the bottom of a very small, steep valley, so any paths that branch off it are very steep. I tend to avoid running on these trails very often since they are so intense, both on the uphill and downhill. Well, most of this race is run on the trails, with only a couple of small sections of Forbidden Drive in between.
So, my race strategy was very simple - walk up the hills, run downhill and on the flats, and simply finish the race!
I got there around 9:10, found a relatively convenient parking spot and went to pick up my bib & T-shirt. It was already about 84 degrees by then, with very high humidity (90-95%). This race was not chip-timed, we just used the tear-off on the bibs at the end. I wanted to put my shirt in the car, and I stopped of at the Port-o-Johns on the way. There seemed to be about 520 or so registered for the race. I stopped back there after dropping off my shirt, and then hung around near the start and stretched a bit. Everyone was very friendly, and a couple of them admired my WISH shirt. The crowd had a really nice vibe to it.
The race started right on time, with me at the back of the pack
, and the first 1/2 mile or so was on Forbidden Drive. Then we went onto a trail on the right, and it got very steep very quickly. One of the funny things I discovered about a trail run is that you run much of the race in single file! In some places there was no room to pass at all. Anyway, I kept with my plan of walking up hill, and running on the flats and downhill sections. Originally I had thought I would take a Cliff Block around halfway, but I started to feel a little punk between 1 1/2 & 2 miles, so I had 2 of them. I carried my own water also, and drank a lot (it was really hot and humid!). Around miles 3 & 4 I was feeling really great, but lost it again when we got back on Forbidden Drive and had another Cliff Block. The race saved the best hill for last - right around 5.3 miles we went up a really nasty one! I mean, generally I would be talking about hiking a hill like that, not racing it. Very steep, somewhat treacherous, and it seemed endless! But once I got to the top I could see the finish line through the trees at the bottom, and I was OK the rest of the way.My place - 391
My time - 1 hour 20:36 (or so - I forgot to turn off my Garmin at the end!)
There was pizza, bagels & bananas at the finish, and lots of cold water. I could not even imagine eating a slice of pizza at that moment, but I enjoyed the rest of the spread. I chatted with a couple of people, picked up a free water bottle, and headed back to the car.
Overall thoughts:
I had a really great time on this race! I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and I think a lot of that was due to the fun atmosphere. There were some serious runners there, but no one took this race overly seriously. It was tough, but fun.
I learned a couple of things about myself:
- I'm better on hills than I thought. While I was walking them, I was keeping a good steady pace, and did not get exhausted from them which has happened to me in the past. I actually passed quite a few people going up.
- I really like running downhill! I know some people have trouble with that, but I really like flying down, even on trails. I think all the hiking I have done every summer for years on Mt. Desert Island in Maine actually helped a lot. I was very sure-footed.
- I was really glad that this race gave me some practice with preparing and pacing myself on a longer course. I'm very satisfied with how I did in the face of being pretty far out of my comfort zone.
The race was well-run, with plenty of food & water at the end, and the trail was well marked. This is only the 3rd year of the race and apparently they had some problems last year (I heard one woman say she had gotten lost in last year's race!) which they seemed to have ironed out well. However, there are 2 things I would change:
-Start the race earlier - 8am or 9am at the latest! June in Philly is very unpredictable, but on a day like today started at 8 would have been much more pleasant for everyone.
-More water stops! They had only 2, which is not enough on an 85 degree day with this kind of course. They could easily have added one more, and it would have made a difference for people. I brought my own water, but most people didn't. I would have had a much harder time if I had relied on the water stops.
Thanks for reading! I'll try to post again in the next few days.
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