Addicted to enDORPHins: PTWR 2010

I never thought I'd see the day that my wife and I would spend some time in the woods......running! This year Karie completed her No Boundaries program in the spring. The goal race was the Tar Heel 10/4 miler, which she completed with a friend. However, she had previously entered the Philosophers Way Trail Run which came one month after the Tar Heel race.

She was somewhat leery of 4 miles on trails early into the NOBO program, as a few pain issues crept into her running. However, with the help of the pain god, Gyro (pun intended), she was able to resume training. Eventually she found that after a 2 or 3 mile run she felt she could run further and had that endorphin induced "runner's high" that just felt good.

Soon, she couldn't wait to run another day. She went from 2 runs per week to 3 or 4, just running cause it was nice. Her NOBO group, who traditionally ran on the streets of Carrboro, held a trail day where our trail-running group, the TrailHeads, took them on a PTWR preview. I had to watch the kids since the double jogger doesn't go so fast on the single track. She loved it of course, and now she's hooked and looking forward to PTWR. It also helped she was heading up packet pickup and this gave her organizational and adult skills a dust off (for a stay-at-home mom).
The day of the race came and the weather was nice, albeit a little humid. I was also registered to run, but as designated pacer, dutiful assistant, and general a$$ kicker/mover to Mrs. Dorph. She wanted me to carry her water, but I told her no "muling" was allowed.

After packet p/u was over, we strolled to the start and did the usual pre-race warm up in the porta-potty. I think we got sucked into a slightly faster pace at the start (as usual w/ most races) and that first hill on Pumpkin hit her hard. There was much more labored breathing during that first half mile than usual, and some walking on the uphills, but there are some steeps out there that first bit.

Leading the pack early

There was some interesting banter heading into the first aid station. I heard several runner cliche mid-race quotes/thoughts..."Why did I do this?" "I'm not doing this again." and my fav "Hey, $#@@$% $%% pal!" I ran ahead several times just enough to snap a few pics here and there.

Once she got good and tired I was able to do some coaching, urging, prodding, etc. without danger of exceeding my husbandly role. We hit the first on only aid station at 25ish minutes. Balanced PT put on a great stop, complete with skeleton man (I didn't get a pic), water, and cold, wet sponges for cooling off.

Leaving the aid we hit a small hill replete with rocks and good stuff. After this though we cruised a nice downhill and finally started to enter a rhythm. She was running more and walking less, helped along by the fewer and less steep hills. We saw another runner catching up as the trail winds along beside itself in several sections. This motivated Mrs. Dorph to keep up the pace since she did not want to get caught/passed now.

I coached her along, keeping her moving on the flats and small rises with the promise of a more strenuous uphill in the future where a walk break would be warranted. This helped us put some distance between the following runner. Whatever friendly competition helps move you along right?

Dutiful pacer

We really found a good rhythm during the last 1.5 miles. Whenever we walked I prodded her with "shorten the stride but up the cadence" to increase the uphill speed but exert less strain on her legs. It really worked for her. I ran ahead right near the end to get a nice video of the finish. This was her first trail race!!!! I'm so proud of you honey! I think there will be other races in the future, perhaps some longer, and some even on trails. As long as you are active and HAPPY, I'll be there to support you.