Running with NERDS on Galentine's Day

Last year, I decided 2015 would be the Year of the Kansas-themed Races.  It's easy to get carried away with race registrations and I thought this might help me focus my calendar & not spend so much on registration fees!  First up:  "Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run," a 10 mile trail run.  Second:  the "Garmin Half Marathon- In the Land of Oz."  Third:  "Topeka Tinman," the Long Course.  Finally:  "The Kansas Half Marathon."  There are a few others, but they don't go with the Kansas theme, so we'll ignore them.  The other thing we'll ignore is the "Psycho Wyco" part of that "Run Toto Run" race.

It all starts with the promise of a beautiful trail in winter.

It's all fun & games until someone gets nabbed by El Chupa Cabra.  (thanks for the warning, trail masons)

Just kidding.  I'll talk about the "Psycho Wyco" part.  Here, in Kansas City, we have a great community of trail runners.  They're called the Trail Nerds and they put on some really fun and challenging races.  The races are held at Wyandotte County Lake Park, which is the "Wyco" part.  The winter course has charming nicknames for different parts of the trail:  Fall Down Hill, Speed Demon Ridge, Broken Leg Turn, Misery Ridge, Fester's Wander (designed by the race director's dog), and the Three Hills Section (aka Three Sisters, aka Three Witches, aka Three Bitches) and I'm guessing that's the "Psycho" part.  Run Toto Run takes place on this winter course.  It's mostly single-track bridle trail with lots of roots, rocks, horse poo, creeks, dirt, and mud. As one of the Trail Nerds said on their Facebook page, "It's AMAZING(ly hard)." Amen.

Great group of Gals, ready to race the trails!

This year, Run Toto Run was held on February 14th-- Galentine's Day (a day to celebrate female friendships & I participated with a great group of ladies from the Bouncing Buns).  There were 7 of us that caravan'd to the race.  The 10 mile runners were shuttled from an offsite parking lot to the Start line, while the 20 mile and 50K runners parked at the Start.  The weather was cold, but not too cold; temps were supposed to drop as the day went on.  The DJ was great, the volunteers were friendly, bag drop was easy-peasy, and the porta-potty lines were non-existent.  Great way to start a race!  The 20 mile & 50k runners started at 8:00 & we started at 9:00.  Trail etiquette dictates that slower runners pull off the trail when a faster runner comes from behind, calling out, "On your left."  We had a mass start across a foot bridge & then an open field to get to the entrance of the trail about a quarter mile away.  Our group started towards the back & took it slow, knowing there would be a log-jam at the trailhead.  As we slowed to a walk at the bridle trail entrance, either Tacha or Jane called out a joking, "on your left," getting quite a few chuckles and setting the tone for the rest of our race.

Our shoes after a particularly sloppy training run.

Adding sheet metal screws to your shoes helps with traction when conditions are icy or muddy.

The first quarter to a half mile of trail was crowded, but eventually, the course cleared out & we found a happy running/walking/pulling-over-for-faster-runners pace.  Tacha, Jane, and I decided we would stick together & were in it for the adventure of a new experience.  We fell in behind a gentleman and chatted with him until we hit the first of four aid stations.  He stopped for water or snacks & we turned down in to the "triangle," a section of trail that's about a mile long & zig-zags down and back up to where we turned in, only on the other side of the aid tent. Every time we've run through here, I've laughed at how the runners look like they're in one of those shooting gallery games:  When looking down from the entrance, everyone seems to be running in different directions, with no clear view of the trail.  For the most part, the trail was very uneven and difficult for us to navigate, but every so often, we would come to a flat section of trail that was such a joy to run on.  Those sections were a rare treat.

Definitely not one of those flat sections I was mentioning.

About five miles in, a man came up behind us and we asked if he would like to pass.  He didn't and was happy to have us set the pace.  He stayed with us until the end.  Also, there was a man we played leap-frog with for the first couple of miles, but he settled in with us, too.  They didn't really talk to us, but stayed right behind.  We had several instances of faster runners passing by, always encouraging us as they flew past.  What was amazing is how quickly they came up from behind and how quickly they disappeared ahead of us.  Poof!  Now you see them, now you don't. We dubbed them "Trail Ninjas."

We had a couple of falls (Fall Down Hill, perhaps?) and thought we would freeze from the cold winds on Speed Demon Ridge.  The Three Hills Bitches lived up to their name, that's for sure. We crossed streams, pulled ourselves up inclines by ropes attached to trees, and rounded corners that seemed like cliffs.  At one point, we came to a man-made ditch that I had absolutely no idea how to cross.  It was too wide for me to jump across (because I was tired!) & too deep for me to jump in to & back out of (because I was tired!).  Thankfully, Tacha took the lead, jumped in, and followed it uphill about 10 yards until it was shallow enough to step out of (which I might have figured out if I hadn't been so tired!).  Jennifer warned us that we would hear the DJ playing long before we saw the finish line, but once we heard the blaring sounds of upbeat club music, we knew we were home.  Tacha dug deep and pulled a little ahead.  Jane & I grabbed hands and crossed the finish line like we'd been rescued after weeks lost in the wilderness.  I was never so happy to see a Finish line in my life! (That might be a slight exaggeration)

I could hear a choir of angels singing as we crossed the Finish Line. (It sounded a lot like Pitbull.)

At the end of the race, I may have suggested I was retiring from trail races, but that was also an exaggeration.  If you've never tried a trail race, I highly recommend it!  It's nice to get out of your comfort zone and a lot of fun to join in with people who are in their comfort zone.  The path may not move, but the trails change with the seasons.  Change can be good, even especially when you start using words like "Psycho" and "Nerds."