Fall Fell Trail Race

I'd been looking forward to this run for a while. Haven't actually run an honest-to-goodness trail race since February's Run Toto Run, and indeed I was off the trails entirely for a while in the Summer after spraining my ankle. I've been back on them the last few weeks, mixing up trail and pavement and slowly easing back up to 25-30 miles/week. Still, although I did run an enjoyable Wyco loop recently, almost all of my trail-ing has been at Shawnee Mission Park, which has some fine trails, but ones that were becoming very familiar. As the Fall Fell Trail Race was at Kill Creek Park in Olathe, this seemed an ideal way to try out a new spot. At the bargain price of $8, it was much cheaper than the KC Marathon the day before too. Count me in.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, while running in SMP, I managed to twist both ankles several times. Nothing hugely serious, but enough to stretch out the tendons and make me just a little nervous coming into this one.

Kill Creek Park is quite a way out there, very quiet, very low key, rather like the event. There are two major trails. One, called Hank, Bad Ben told us is named after Dr. Henry Jekyll, the other, Eddy, after Mr. Eddie Hyde. It wouldn't take a Dr, or even a lowly Mr, to figure out which was the apparently more challenging then. Overall the race is about 7 miles, so a good way to start the day without blowing every gasket for the next three weeks.

I paid up, got my number (99) and people-watched for about 45 minutes with my support crew (Jill) until the race began at 9.

The weather was sunny and warming as we started, and I bolted out way too fast and headed down a little road into "Hank" in probably around 9th or 10th place (there were a little over 70 runners total). The frustrating thing is that I think my fitness level probably would have been enough to keep me there, but my confidence on the trails was a little shot after the ankle twists and soon, people were passing me.

The funny thing was, I would reflect later that even though Eddy was no question the more technical of the two trails, I actually had a harder time with Hank, perhaps because although generally smoother it occasionally would surprise you with a small root or rock, sometimes hidden under some fallen leaves, that would be just enough to turn what was already a weak-ish left ankle. I counted at least four times that I gave it a significant twist. One in particular caused me to yelp like a surprised dog.

Still, I managed to keep going and soon I was on another little stretch of road and then down towards a stream and photo op. Jill and the "official" photographer were stationed here with a few spectators, and it was great fun galoshing through about four or five inches of water for a few steps. Also did a good job of cleaning off my rather muddy Brooks Cascadias, so practical as well as refreshing.

While Hank was fairly flat to downhill with occasional rocky and rooty patches, Eddy was very rocky, requiring a bit more skill and concentration. Maybe it was this focus, or maybe I was warmed up, but as I said, I actually didn't have too many ankle problems during this section and I'd settled into a comfortable pace. Running largely on my own for long stretches by now, I thought I was probably still in the top 20 or 25 or so and as I bent around a little lollipop and doubled back I started passing some of the runners still heading out. This was a relief because I realized I probably was still going the right way. Mind starts playing tricks when you're out in the boonies on your own sometimes.

Before long, I was back over the stream and really splashed through it this time (see pic for my hero shot). Confidence in my ankle was better by now, and I returned to Hank with a better rhythm and although passed by one more guy who literally seemed to appear from nowhere, I had enough left for a decent finish.

My final time was 1:01:06. Good for 21st place. Would have been a nice cherry on top to break an hour, but all in all, I was pleased with how I ran and most of all glad to have found a new trail I can add to my rotation. As always, the race was impeccably put together by Ben and his peeps, and the donut at the end was very welcome. Hopefully I can keep my ankle in joint long enough to run further and - well, probably not faster - in February.

Run For The Polar Bears

For the third time, on September 18, Jill and I lined up, with Jill's pal Kim and her husband Adam, for the Kansas City Zoo Run, this year in aid of the Polar Bears, the poster children for environmental activists and cute but deadly food chain toppers in the Arctic.

Conditions at the zoo were anything but arctic of course. The brutal summer may have lost some of its sting, but it was humid and still warm as we lined up on Swope Parkway and readied ourselves for the off. Hoping for a better performance than my previous two runs here, we lined up closer to the front of the pack. The race gets bigger every year but some of the running lanes are very narrow in this twisty turny event. I didn't want to get held up in traffic.

My goal was a relatively modest one. 30:00. (4 mile race, this would be a 7:30 pace). Some 4+ minutes slower than I ran the Trolley Run in April, but my fitness level isn't as high as then due to a busy summer (got married, went to Europe, put on weight) and the sometimes dangerously hot conditions keeping me from running as much as I was in the winter.

After one of the better National Anthem renditions I'd heard at one of these things - an a capella group - the gun went off and we shot down past the entrance and into the zoo. I was out of breath almost immediately and wondered what in the hell was going on. I think in the past, I'd started so far back, the runners around me were much slower than I was, but this time, lining up near the front, they were all as fast or faster and I found myself surprised by that to a certain extent. There seemed like a lot of people in front of me, which made me wonder if I was really running that fast, or if I just wasn't as quick as I was back in the Spring.

After a quick out and back, we reached the first mile marker and a glance at the watch showed a 6:44 first mile. Much quicker than I'd gone in several months, so I felt better mentally, if not physically. Adam was just a little behind me at that point, which surprised me a little as he'd not really done any training, but I decided not to worry about it and moved on into "Africa".

Much of this section was on gravelly trails and wooden bridges, comprising a loop around the outdoor African exhibits. Usually I don't really notice the animals, but I did see one fairly curious looking hippo wondering what was going on just outside his enclosure. I felt pretty comfortable at this point, but knew that on the way out of the loop, I'd be running uphill over a bridge, something that kicked my ass last year, so some of what I was doing was preparing mentally for it.

It worked, apparently. For whatever reason, it wasn't nearly as daunting or challenging as it had been last year when it sort of snuck up on me. However, my recollection that this was the last real challenge was less accurate as the mile and a half remaining through "Australia" seemed to be a constant maze of uphills, downhills, sharp turns and narrow pathways. Fun course, no doubt, but hard work in the warm wet air.

I turned one final corner and into the home straight I went. I had enough left for a kick and passed a couple of people, feeling pretty good about myself until a 12 or 13 year old boy shot past me like I was standing still. Apparently he had mailed in the first 3.9 miles because he certainly had a lot more left than I did. Still, I crossed the line in 29:03, after adjustments, ahead of my goal, at 7:16 pace, not too bad for the course, conditions and my level of fitness.

Adam was a few minutes behind and finished in 32 minutes and change, not bad for someone who probably hasn't run in months. If he trained, he'd leave me in the dust.

Jill and Kim finished in just over 49 minutes, and after a donut and a drink, we all headed over to the brand new Polar Bear exhibit, which featured the brand new MVP of the KC Zoo, Nikita, the 500 pound Polar Bear "baby". Rarely do animals do what you want them to at a zoo. Most of them prefer to just laze around occasionally looking at you. This guy was the exception. Belly flopping and backstroking his way around the pool, he was an absolute star. Hopefully he doesn't pork out and get lazy as he grows older, but right now, the millions of dollars it took to bring him there appear to have been well spent.

Later, I checked the results, and I finished 66th out of about 1,500 or so. 6th in my age group. Not too bad, though I think if I was in Spring form, I could have been close to the top 20, and maybe the top 3 in my age group. Oh well, I'll take it. It's still one of my favorite runs and marks the third year in a row I've gone faster. Moving on...