Portland Trail Series No. 5 (8/3/16)

Backtracking for a minute... 

Aug. 3 was the end of my Portland Trail Series! (Race #1, Race #2, Race #3, Race #4)

I signed up for the chance to run in the park, something I love but don't often get a chance to do. And for five consecutive Wednesdays, I fought horrid traffic to make my way from Tigard to the Forest Park entrance on Thurman, I lined up in the back of the pack, and I raced until my heart almost exploded from my chest.

The whole thing was a bit awkward because I didn't know a soul and I was way out of my element. The other racers seriously very hardcore. There was just a handful of us "normal" runners who crossed the finish line long after the others.

But that's part of why I'm so glad I did it! I'm proud of myself for pushing out of comfort zone on so many levels! Would I do this series again? Not by myself. Am I sorry I signed up? No. 

We turned in our bibs after each race, and for each bib saved, $1 was donated to the Forest Park Conservancy. We got to keep them on the last night:

The last course was under 4.5 miles up Leif Erikson, up Alder, up Dogwood and finally down Wild Cherry:

As I've said before, I don't know these trails. I was so happy to learn the final route was so short. But what I didn't know until I was running was that almost all of it was up hill:

Ugh! So hard!

I tried to conserve as much as possible on the ups and then run as hard as I could on the final down. 

My official time was 45:45 - a 10:12 average - 10/13 in my division, 38/46 in females and 101/119 overall.

I came in behind the same woman EVERY SINGLE WEEK. I tried so hard to catch her in that last race but just couldn't do it. 

I was a bit bummed with the overall results but then reminded myself that I was not there to race but for the experience and opportunity to run on trails. And in those areas, I nailed it! :)