After tripping over a tree branch (oh who am I kidding, it was probably my own foot!) on the trails at Stonycreek a few weeks ago, I was a little nervous about Flirt with Dirt yesterday. This race has a lot more trips hazards, switchbacks, and narrow trails and let's be honest, I am NOT the picture of grace. Unlike when I fell at Stonycreek, this is pretty tight so if I fell here, I'd likely trip up someone else and piss off a whole bunch of people. (Not to mention myself.) SO, my anxiety level was a bit higher than in a road race and my eyes were glued to the ground as a I ran. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I should have been wearing my glasses . . . But what fun would that be?
I'm still new to running trails and am not comfortable passing people, so there were a few times in the first half when I was stuck behind some slower runners. With all the switchbacks, ups and downs, and roots in the first few miles on the narrow mountain bike trail, passing people was sometimes nearly impossible anyway. I would have loved to get ahead and pick up the pace earlier on but alas, I did not.
I made up for lost time in the second half and finished strong - 1st in my age group, 4th female, and 34th overall. And seriously, my goals in this race were to stay on course (unlike last year), stay on my feet, and have fun. I had a couple of close calls but most definitely accomplished all three. And leaving with some cool swag certainly didn't hurt! Race day success!
I made up for lost time in the second half and finished strong - 1st in my age group, 4th female, and 34th overall. And seriously, my goals in this race were to stay on course (unlike last year), stay on my feet, and have fun. I had a couple of close calls but most definitely accomplished all three. And leaving with some cool swag certainly didn't hurt! Race day success!
Time
50:05
50:05
Pace
8:04/mile
Fuel
Banana
Tunes*
Somebody That I Used to Know / Gotye
Little Talks / Of Monsters and Men
Vertigo / U2
Kiss with a Fist / Florence & the Machine
Dear Rosemary / Foo Fighters
Machu Picchu / The Strokes
Sixteen Saltines / Jack White
One Engine / The Decemberists
From Now On / The Features
Take the Heartland / Glen Hansard
Supermassive Black Hole / Muse
Mercy / Duffy
Immigrant Song / Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Feat. Karen O.
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground I / The White Stripes
Chop and Change / The Black Keys
E.T. / Katy Perry
* Same as last year - that's what happens when you forget to sync your new playlist. Boo!
Upcoming Events:
Tough Mudder - June 29th
Warrior Dash - July 27th
Merrell Down & Dirty - August 25th
That was a great run.I was there running with my daughter. She had a great run as a new trail runner.I hobbled along on a sprained ankle I got on Monday. See your doing Tough Mudder.I will be there as well on June 29, 12:00 pm heat.Also will be at the Savage race in ohio this weekend on sat. the 15th. Good running to you.
ReplyDeleteGood luck at Tough Mudder! I'm not familiar with the Savage race. I hope that goes well for you! Thanks for reading my blog and commenting! :)
DeleteHi, someone just passed along your blog to me and it looks pretty great. I too was at Flirt this year (as well as the last few) and really enjoy this race!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the mugging, I look forward to perusing more of your blog!
Hi Jeremy! Thanks for checking out my blog and liking my Facebook page! Isn't Flirt with Dirt awesome?! It's so much fun! I hope you find some other things you like on the blog. If you know anyone else who might like it, please pass it along! :)
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