{"id":2170,"date":"2016-09-07T21:44:01","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T01:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/?p=2170"},"modified":"2016-09-07T21:44:01","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T01:44:01","slug":"power-in-pink-race-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/?p=2170","title":{"rendered":"Power in Pink Race Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_4837\"<\/a><\/p>\n

September is now in full swing but I am still reminiscing about my amazing summer. \u00a0Hikes and orienteering in Alberta, kayaking on the lake at our Quebec Cabin, and hardly a run on pavement to be had. \u00a0But just because I wasn’t on pavement doesn’t mean I wasn’t running. \u00a0This was a summer of trails for me, particularly in August. \u00a0After running the MEC Camp Fortune race, followed by the i2P 50k race in Gatineau Park, I finished the summer race season with the Mad Trapper’s Power in Pink Trail Race.\"img_4594\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like all Mad Trapper races, this was a low-key event in that there were no medals, no official timing company and no pressure to “race”. \u00a0It was, however, a fundraiser to raise funds for the Princess Margaret Hospital and cancer research. \u00a0It was also a women’s only event – and noteworthy that many of the women were new to trail running. \u00a0Race options were a 3k hike, a 5k loop or – my choice – a double loop for the 10. \u00a0Runners would be met by three handsome guys serving mimosas.\u00a0 O.k, I’m biased but come on, they all look good in bow ties, don’t they?<\/p>\n

\"img_4609\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My boys getting directions!<\/p><\/div>\n

Race director Mike Caldwell gathered participants together to go through logistics and to encourage shout outs to the race sponsors, Bushtukah (did I mention great prizes?) , Bytown Catering (yes, there was a full lunch provided!) and Salomon shoes (free shoe trial anyone?). \u00a0The biggest shout out was for Trish, Mike’s friend, cancer survivor and inspiration for the race. \u00a0Best wishes from all participants were sent out via video as Trish recovers from surgery. (You continue to inspire, Trish!!!)<\/p>\n

\"img_4600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With that, we were off. \u00a0I think I am safe in saying there were more than a few shocked women when they saw just how a Mad Trapper race starts. \u00a0If you need some flat ground to warm up on, sure – no problem. \u00a0Will about a 100 metres do you? \u00a0Because after that my road running friends you start going up a single track technical trail. \u00a0I’ve done this hill several times and to be honest it kills\u00a0me EVERY\u00a0time. \u00a0I sort of breathed a sigh of relief when everyone ahead decided to walk it; it actually meant I did not feel light-headed or ready to puke by the time I was 500 metres into the race!<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Some happy first time Mad Trapper runners \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

I am hoping some of the first time Mad Trappers or trail runners are reading this because I do want to give you some words of encouragement. \u00a0If during your race you thought,\u00a0“This is \u00a0(insert your own swear word here) crazy and I can\u00a0never do this again”, you are only half right. \u00a0It is ($%*#ing) crazy but you CAN do it again. \u00a0As you have probably already learned, you simply have to adjust your expectations. \u00a0Walk when you need to, let your pride go and pull over to the side when you hear, perhaps repeatedly, “Passing on the left”. \u00a0Focus on the fact that you\u00a0were running this:<\/p>\n

\"running-27-aug-2016-elevation\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Seriously, your body can do that? \u00a0How awesome is that??? \u00a0What, you had to hike parts? \u00a0You thought about crawling? \u00a0You considered\u00a0taking up knitting as a hobby rather than running? \u00a0Who cares! \u00a0You were seriously amazing out there, wear that Power in Pink shirt with pride.<\/p>\n

As for my run, I actually felt amazing for the first loop. \u00a0I even felt kind of fast. \u00a0When I checked my Garmin it dispelled that idea pretty quickly but I was totally enjoying the run and was happy to head out for the\u00a0second loop. \u00a0There were only a few women who chose to do the 10k so I was out there on my own (not at the front, sadly). \u00a0I often end up somewhere near or at the back at Mad Trapper races and have become quite used to\u00a0having the woods to myself. \u00a0However, once on my own I don’t necessarily watch my route as carefully as I should. \u00a0So I was more than a little surprised (but probably shouldn’t have been) to realize after about 2k that I was about to run through the horse paddock – the same horse paddock that was at the start of the 5k loop and would lead me back to the finish, though from the wrong direction. \u00a0Prior to the race we were told we women were smarter than men; we would be able to stay on the leaf blown trails. \u00a0Yeah, apparently I blew that one. \u00a0I ran to the start\/finish line, reported in and said I would be a while, I was going to head out to try the 5k loop again. \u00a0Little did I know that if I had only backtracked a short distance when I was approaching the horse paddock I could have quickly fixed my mistake. \u00a0Instead I started again, meaning I climbed that stupid (insert another swear word here) starting hill that I hate so much for the THIRD time. \u00a0And needless to say, by adding another 2k onto the 10k race I was last. \u00a0Really last. \u00a0Last as in everyone had had their lunches and the auction bidding had been done. \u00a0But I still got my mimosa, my lunch and, always the best part of a Mad Trapper race, my brownies. \u00a0So it was sort of a lose\/win\/win\/win situation \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Hope to see some of you at the next Mad Trapper race on October 15th. \u00a0And if you found the trail running relatively easy, I dare you to come out and try the snowshoe races this winter! \u00a0For those who know that won’t be easy come out anyway – I am always happy to have company at the back (though I’ll fight you for the last brownies!)<\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter @AverageRunnerK<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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September is now in full swing but I am still reminiscing about my amazing summer. \u00a0Hikes and orienteering in Alberta, kayaking on the lake at our Quebec Cabin, and hardly a run on pavement to be had. \u00a0But just because I wasn’t on pavement doesn’t mean I wasn’t running. \u00a0This was a summer of trails […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-running"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3amQ2-z0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2170"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2188,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions\/2188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}