Muddy Paws 10 miles (Trail race)
Right after we moved to Ohio, I looked for a race that should be challenging enough to motivate me to train but not too challenging that I did not have time to train. I was looking at longer race but not more than a half marathon. Then, I found this race - the Muddy Paws 10 miles.
I did my research by looking at the race organizer's website and saw that they had a dirty series trail race and the photos from previous years looked pretty good. There were 3 distances - a 2 mile, dog-friendly race, a 5 mile and a 10 mile race. After the Superior Spring 25K, I felt like I could do any trail race that was shorter than 25K (15 miles). So, I signed up for the 10 mile race.
A good friend, S., whom I met through a running club took me out to the course. She and another friend, S., led me through the course once (on a super hot/humid day). One loop on the race course is 5 miles and for the 10 miles race you have to run it twice. After running the course with S. and S., I felt more confident that I could finish it (fast or not depended on the weather).
On the race day, I woke up, ate my routine breakfast, and ask P. to drop me off at the course as the instruction said parking could be challenging. Picked up my race shirt and went to the bathroom (twice).
Of course, this race was called the Muddy Paws, which means there were dogs on the course. Originally, I thought the dogs were only allowed in the 2 mile race but it turned out that they were allowed in the longer races as well. Although I love dogs, having them and their owners running on a single-track trail in front of and behind me was a bit annoying as they tended to run around and sometimes get distracted. However, seeing them interact with each other at the race start was kinda fun.
The first loop was quite crowded (plus dogs) as the 5 and 10 milers started at the same time but I did not have to slow down and walk like I did at the Superior Spring Trail race.
First loop was fine. There were a lot of hills (duh) and my strategy was to walk up and run down the hills. I did not have a goal time in mind so I stayed relaxed, sipped water often, and drank Tailwind water. My pace was kinda slower than the normal pace because of the weather (even though they said it's cooler and drier than the previous years).
At the beginning of the 2nd loop, I took a GU and stopped at the water stop. I loved the trail part of the race but the last mile of the course they made you run through tall grass and hills. AND because 10 milers had to run 2 loops, I got to run through the grass TWICE >_<'
I finished strong as I kept telling myself I was not going for time. My goals for this race were to have fun and to run trail. Slower than I expected but I was happy with my time. Turned out I came in 2nd in my age group! and they only gave out the medal to the first person in the age group. Darn it!
To summarize my impression of this race - hot, lots of hills, 2 loops, (some) annoying dogs on the course, and fun time :)
I did my research by looking at the race organizer's website and saw that they had a dirty series trail race and the photos from previous years looked pretty good. There were 3 distances - a 2 mile, dog-friendly race, a 5 mile and a 10 mile race. After the Superior Spring 25K, I felt like I could do any trail race that was shorter than 25K (15 miles). So, I signed up for the 10 mile race.
A good friend, S., whom I met through a running club took me out to the course. She and another friend, S., led me through the course once (on a super hot/humid day). One loop on the race course is 5 miles and for the 10 miles race you have to run it twice. After running the course with S. and S., I felt more confident that I could finish it (fast or not depended on the weather).
On the race day, I woke up, ate my routine breakfast, and ask P. to drop me off at the course as the instruction said parking could be challenging. Picked up my race shirt and went to the bathroom (twice).
Of course, this race was called the Muddy Paws, which means there were dogs on the course. Originally, I thought the dogs were only allowed in the 2 mile race but it turned out that they were allowed in the longer races as well. Although I love dogs, having them and their owners running on a single-track trail in front of and behind me was a bit annoying as they tended to run around and sometimes get distracted. However, seeing them interact with each other at the race start was kinda fun.
The first loop was quite crowded (plus dogs) as the 5 and 10 milers started at the same time but I did not have to slow down and walk like I did at the Superior Spring Trail race.
First loop was fine. There were a lot of hills (duh) and my strategy was to walk up and run down the hills. I did not have a goal time in mind so I stayed relaxed, sipped water often, and drank Tailwind water. My pace was kinda slower than the normal pace because of the weather (even though they said it's cooler and drier than the previous years).
At the beginning of the 2nd loop, I took a GU and stopped at the water stop. I loved the trail part of the race but the last mile of the course they made you run through tall grass and hills. AND because 10 milers had to run 2 loops, I got to run through the grass TWICE >_<'
I finished strong as I kept telling myself I was not going for time. My goals for this race were to have fun and to run trail. Slower than I expected but I was happy with my time. Turned out I came in 2nd in my age group! and they only gave out the medal to the first person in the age group. Darn it!
To summarize my impression of this race - hot, lots of hills, 2 loops, (some) annoying dogs on the course, and fun time :)
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