Hi Everyone! This past weekend, the whole Glaser casa participated in the "Mendon Mauler" a 4, 8, 12 mile trail run. We are pretty much trail newbs...we have done a few off road du's and a 20k trail run in mendon so when the special went up January 1 for $10 for any distance, we went for broke! I signed up for the 12 miler and greg the 8 miler. Two weeks later....double lines and nugget appeared :-) I still thought the 12 miler was doable but after talking to some people that ran it and watching a Go Pro video, some of the descents (and my wise other half) convinced me that 8 miles was the smart choice for both me and for me as a soon to be mama. With that in mind, Greg and I approached as a low key training run, complete with the decision to NOT run any trails beforehand (not a smart choice) and to not wear our trail shoes since....2012 (even dumber). So, with that...here comes the "report"!
Race morning, Greg, Rob and I got ready to go - Rob was signed up for the kids race and super excited! We ate some pbj bagels and drove to Mendon, played on the swings, said hello to some of our runner friends, and Rob chilled with Gramma and Uncle Alan while Greg and I got ready to head to the start. The 12 mile folks went off at 8, so about 8:20 we headed over to the start line. This course was pretty famous for some wicked single track, tree grabbing ascents and descents, and a snapping turtle to boot. It seems as if Boots, the RD, decided that the mantra "you must curse once during a trail run" should be repeated many, many times per 4 mile loop. (Challenge accepted, Boots. See you for the 12 miler in 2016! :-D) And now, I'll turn it over to Nugget...who reports on the race so much better than Mom :-P
Start- Mile 1 (11:21) Dad gave Mom a "mooch" (as Rob calls em!) and headed off to start ahead. Mom promised Dad she WOULD NOT RACE and that Dad should fullye xpect to beat the pants off her! I told Dad I would make sure she played it smart. Mom checked her hydration (good), gave a stretch, and with the GO! We were off! And then....not. We raced across a muddy field (yay for getting dirty!) leapt over a ditch with a single bound, and then....hit a wall of runners at a single track. Doh. We didn't care too much but we stayed there for a good 30 seconds trying to get some space....which was pretty typical for mile 1. It was gorgeous, but for the race venue, a bit crowded! Seems trail running is getting super popular, but since we weren't going for a time, we were good. Mom wanted to come in around 45-48....I said we would see. After some good climbing and careful descents, we clocked mile 1 in just over 11. Mom was complaining that her feet hurt and i said she was kinda dumb for not training for this in trails (duh) or wearing her shoes( double duh). She told me it wasn't nice to call people dumb but she agreed...she wasn't smart.
Mile 2: 27:52 Yikes. We did super good for the first 3/4 of this mile...walking/hiking the uphills, watching our footfalls, and carefully navigating downhills. This was not a course for a steady heart rate but we were having so much fun! Until...we saw a familiar figure up ahead....Daddy! I got super excited to see him but Mom said that it wasn't good that he wasn't running...so we went to go check it out. Turned out Dad got mauled....a silly rock leapt out at him and he rolled his knee. Boo to that. We walked with Dad for about 5 minutes and then he told us to stop being silly geese and go. He said he could walk to the finish and that he was doing 4. I told Mom the only right thing to do would be to stick with Dad and she said I was a smart guy. So we told Dad we would run the flats and navigate the ups and downs and find him to finish!
Mile 3: 41:16 We started running again and 3 minutes later....there was Dad!! He decided that running the uphills was good, but walking was good with downhills and flats. So we ran/walked, and leapfrogged according to what worked best - it was so much fun!!
Mile 4: 54:26 Wait....wheres the finish? Oh well, more to run! This mile was super fun - a massive climb and then a tree grabbing descent that Mom and I handled like a pro! Yay!! We passed Daddy after the descent, who had been workin the uphills! We saw the turnoff to the finish and turned around to grab dad, who was on his way! Then we ran the last bit to the finish - total ended up being 4.48 miles in 1:01....or, about a 13:30 mile.
Post race, Dad was kinda bummed because his knee hurt and he wanted to run 8. Mom was a little bummed because she didn't really race, and wanted to do 8 (which is her silly style) but I reminded her that DUH she is running for two and I reminded Dad that DUH he isn't a trail runner and had been training for a trial and that they are both rockstars!!
And then....Rob reminded us that HELLO, he was racing too!!
So we got changed, had some melon, and Rob and I chatted for a bit...he gave me a "mooch" and I said, "Kill it bro!"
PS- Mom says she WILL be running the 12 miler next year. Beware, Mauler, we WILL be back!! Muahahahaha
Race morning, Greg, Rob and I got ready to go - Rob was signed up for the kids race and super excited! We ate some pbj bagels and drove to Mendon, played on the swings, said hello to some of our runner friends, and Rob chilled with Gramma and Uncle Alan while Greg and I got ready to head to the start. The 12 mile folks went off at 8, so about 8:20 we headed over to the start line. This course was pretty famous for some wicked single track, tree grabbing ascents and descents, and a snapping turtle to boot. It seems as if Boots, the RD, decided that the mantra "you must curse once during a trail run" should be repeated many, many times per 4 mile loop. (Challenge accepted, Boots. See you for the 12 miler in 2016! :-D) And now, I'll turn it over to Nugget...who reports on the race so much better than Mom :-P
Mile 2: 27:52 Yikes. We did super good for the first 3/4 of this mile...walking/hiking the uphills, watching our footfalls, and carefully navigating downhills. This was not a course for a steady heart rate but we were having so much fun! Until...we saw a familiar figure up ahead....Daddy! I got super excited to see him but Mom said that it wasn't good that he wasn't running...so we went to go check it out. Turned out Dad got mauled....a silly rock leapt out at him and he rolled his knee. Boo to that. We walked with Dad for about 5 minutes and then he told us to stop being silly geese and go. He said he could walk to the finish and that he was doing 4. I told Mom the only right thing to do would be to stick with Dad and she said I was a smart guy. So we told Dad we would run the flats and navigate the ups and downs and find him to finish!
Mile 4: 54:26 Wait....wheres the finish? Oh well, more to run! This mile was super fun - a massive climb and then a tree grabbing descent that Mom and I handled like a pro! Yay!! We passed Daddy after the descent, who had been workin the uphills! We saw the turnoff to the finish and turned around to grab dad, who was on his way! Then we ran the last bit to the finish - total ended up being 4.48 miles in 1:01....or, about a 13:30 mile.
Post race, Dad was kinda bummed because his knee hurt and he wanted to run 8. Mom was a little bummed because she didn't really race, and wanted to do 8 (which is her silly style) but I reminded her that DUH she is running for two and I reminded Dad that DUH he isn't a trail runner and had been training for a trial and that they are both rockstars!!
And then....Rob reminded us that HELLO, he was racing too!!
Which he did, of course. Can't believe my older brother has run two races!! (Not as fast as me but hey, Mom says it's hard work moving little legs and I will see how hard it is in two years!)
You bet I will, Rob. But in the meantime....I'm freakin proud of ya (I did NOT say that. Mooom....why did you publish that!!)
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