Luke - 15.8

Shotgun Trail Blast 25k, 1:53:42 (1st place)
Zack now works part time (once every few weeks) for the company that puts on almost all the races around here, and last week he went up with another guy to check out the course for this race and make sure everything was okay.  When he got back he told me it was my kind of race: single-track trails, and the 5.2-mile loop I'd do three times was 2 miles uphill, a mile downhill, and 2 miles rolling downhills.  He also said if it were to rain at any point between then and the race that the whole thing would be very muddy.  Yesterday it rained most of the day, and this morning on the drive out there it was pretty much constant rain...so I was excited.
Got out there an hour before the start, like I'd planned, and watched the eight people running the 50k start their race (six circuits of the same loop as mine).  I checked out some of the trails just walking and easy jogging, went to the bathroom, had a gel and a few swigs of water, pinned my number on and changed into my racing kit, and it was time to start.
The course started in the parking lot before heading onto the trails just about 50m in.  I went straight to the front without sprinting too hard, and went at a pace that would allow anyone that might have given me competition to run with me.  No one did, so I settled into a decent pace as we headed uphill.  I wanted to run each loop faster than the last, so I wasn't going too hard the whole first loop.  Probably about the same effort as my run on Wednesday.  The rain was intermittent and the trail was fun.  The uphill wasn't quite as hard as I expected and the downhill was pretty fun, although I couldn't go too fast due to switchbacks and obstacles.  I didn't see anyone behind me after about a mile and a half in, but every once in a while I'd pass someone from the 50k.  Came through the transition area at about 37:15 and as I headed through the parking lot about 15 seconds later I took my gloves off and threw them on my car.
I was definitely giving it more effort on the second loop, and was feeling it in my breathing.  I'd looked at my watch at a couple landmarks during the first loop and was slightly ahead of those times on the second loop despite it being those 15 seconds (finish line to start line) longer.  Near the top of the hill I started lapping people from my race.  I was giving it a good effort down the hill as I came up on a woman I was lapping, and right after saying "coming up behind you" I took my eyes off the trail for a second and totally ate it head first off the side of the trail.  I don't think it was even a root I tripped on, just a slightly-raised mound of dirt.  I got up pretty quick and apologized to the woman and made sure she knew it wasn't her fault at all and then went on my way.  I caught up to the second-place 50ker a mile or two later and chatted with him for a few seconds as I passed him, and he bid me farewell by saying, "Keep smiling, brother," which I liked.  I came through the second lap in 37-flat, which means I was about 30 seconds faster.
I tried to pick it up further as I started the final lap, but my legs were feeling a bit like jelly.  I was about a minute slower to the top of the hill than I had been on the previous two laps, and in the next, downhill mile I lost about another minute.  Part of that was also that the rain had picked up, and with a hundred people coming through the trail it had gotten pretty messy.  I told myself there was a chance that someone could be catching me, and that kept me pushing hard enough that no one did.  Was feeling pretty slow by the end but only lost another 30 seconds or so in the last couple miles to come through at about 39:30.
At the finish they got my tag and I went straight to the beer table, which was only about five feet from the end of the chute.  Some of the people there at the finish laughed at how quickly I started drinking beer after finishing, but it tasted so good.  I finished it before I got back to my car, where I changed in the pouring rain--I'd brought just enough clothes to be mostly-dry before heading back to the shelter at the finish.  I grabbed another beer, and also a bowl of burrito stuff from Qdoba and some granola-type stuff.  There was a fireplace with people huddled around and I joined them and chatted a bit, first with the people who had done the shorter races (there was a 5k and a 10k) and then with the people in my race as they started coming in.  We were all cold and wet so I just sat in front of the fire eating until I stopped shivering, and then stood and slowly spun like a rotisserie chicken to get myself warm and dry.
For winning I got a trophy and medal similar to the ones I got at the Bristow race, and a coupon for $20 off my next race.  Once home I had two more beers in the shower, took a nap, watched basketball, and ate DoughCo.