Hell's Hills 2021 race report.
Wow, first event of 2021, I guess. We were supposed to do Bandera, but the training for that just didn't work out, and I was still feeling discouraged from feeling so crappy at/about Mosaic, and there was still a pandemic raging furiously on, and so we withdrew and got credit to use for our next race.
Which we then completely forgot to use when we decided to sign up for Hell's Hills! Oops. Still a pandemic, but my training has been going much better, and I picked a realistic distance, and I really wanted to get out and do some non-Greenbelt running, and some hills. And this had all those things.
I actually didn't even remember what the venue, Rocky Hill Ranch, was exactly. It wasn't until we arrived that I realized it was the site of both my marathon DNF from food poisoning that one time, and also my getting completely off course and ending up back at the beginning a couple miles in, instead of 13 miles in. Ha. So many demons I could have been dreading leading up to the race! But fortunately I didn't remember that until we got there.
The covid protocols for this race were spot on, they've clearly figured the whole thing out, how to keep people as safe as possible. Our start time slot was 7:30-8am, and we could start any time in there. We rolled up around 7:20, got all prepared, and crossed the start line at 7:49am. Perfect.
At the start line. We are cute.
I was out to run 25k, which was longer than I'd run in.. a long time, but not unrealistically so, and Matt was in for the 10k.
And overall I just had a really nice day.
It starts out hilly. As we crossed the start line, Matt said "Maybe I should done something.. anything.. to warm up." We ran our own races after that, but it wasn't long before I thought, "Oh, man, Matt was right." My calves were SO tight, and so were my plantar tendons. And the whole first part is rocky uphill. Oof.
But I just kept it nice and easy and kept my steps short and did what I could to minimize the stretching, and enjoyed my run.
The course is SO beautiful. I forget that every time. You start in stereotypical Texas hill country trail, and then suddenly you're in a pine forest, with a trail of soft needles and towering trees and it's so quiet and peaceful.
This is a really tall tree that was disturbing for some reason.
Oh. That's why. That's scary. I took a picture and then ran away before it could fall on me.
So many trees, it was hard to tell whether the rumbling was planes or traffic or thunder. Turns out it was thunder. Early April in Texas can go either way, but usually it goes the way of sun and hot. This day was overcast and cool and tree-covered and lovely, with low thunder rumbles.
Eventually my calves loosened up, and I was mostly just cruising through the trail, except my right plantar was still really tight. Around mile 8 I realized.. evidently that's just gonna be how my plantar is for this run. Ohwell, I can deal.
It was one loop for the 25k, which is one of the reasons I was okay with this race/distance. I still had demons from Mosaic and all those loops and having trouble, while feeling so bad, going back out again and again and again. This was a long loop, and that can have its own demons, but it didn't, and it was nice knowing that when I was back at the start, I would be done.
Around mile 10, I realized that my plantar didn't hurt anymore! I wasn't breaking any speed records, but I felt very okay. Great weather, body felt fine, running just felt kinda joyful. Been a while since I got to feel that.
This guy was on the side of the trail. He was cute. He had two heads.
I think there were 4 aid stations, and I only stopped at one to refill one of my bottles. I was pretty low on water by the end, but saved a lot of time by just cruising through the other 3 aid stations. (Covid note: Most of the aid stations were unmanned. Maybe all? Start/finish line had volunteers at that aid station, but they were all masked (and I didn't really need that aid station, since I was done).)
In the last few miles, the rumbling finally turned into rain. Mostly it was so tree-covered that it didn't really feel like rain, but some did make it down to the trail. Not enough to turn the dirt to mud, but definitely enough to make the rocks slick. No big rocks or shelves, the course is just little rocks, but still slippery and dangerous.
AND I had forgotten how unkind the last 1.5 miles or so is. It's all steep uphills and steep downhills, and several of those 2x4 bridges that are covered with chicken wire for purchase. Those were a little scary when wet, and one especially was so steep that you'd slide back down a bit with each step. Oof.
But it was worth it to have some delightful rain, and made the field part at the end extra nice, since it's one of the few non-tree-covered parts of the course.
Of course, then it made the finish line a little wet and cold once I finished, so I grabbed my medal, a 2-pack of chocolate chip cookies, and we hit the road, since Matt had finished long ago and already taken our stuff back to the car so it didn't get soaked by the rain.
I went into this telling myself it was just a fun day on a trail that wasn't the Greenbelt, and a supported run to get some hills in, and that's exactly what it ended up being. I stopped 4 or 5 times to take pictures, which isn't fast, since I have to take off my pack, get out my phone, take the picture, put the phone back in, and put my pack back on. But I didn't care about my time. I just wanted to have fun.
I mean, I was always gonna take a picture of this guy, when I came across him 11 miles into the woods, all alone, the day before Easter.
Not every run or race is going to be great, but it was nice to have one that was just pleasant and will be a great memory, to counter the food poisoning and DNF runs and races that linger in the brain.
Which we then completely forgot to use when we decided to sign up for Hell's Hills! Oops. Still a pandemic, but my training has been going much better, and I picked a realistic distance, and I really wanted to get out and do some non-Greenbelt running, and some hills. And this had all those things.
I actually didn't even remember what the venue, Rocky Hill Ranch, was exactly. It wasn't until we arrived that I realized it was the site of both my marathon DNF from food poisoning that one time, and also my getting completely off course and ending up back at the beginning a couple miles in, instead of 13 miles in. Ha. So many demons I could have been dreading leading up to the race! But fortunately I didn't remember that until we got there.
The covid protocols for this race were spot on, they've clearly figured the whole thing out, how to keep people as safe as possible. Our start time slot was 7:30-8am, and we could start any time in there. We rolled up around 7:20, got all prepared, and crossed the start line at 7:49am. Perfect.
At the start line. We are cute.
I was out to run 25k, which was longer than I'd run in.. a long time, but not unrealistically so, and Matt was in for the 10k.
And overall I just had a really nice day.
It starts out hilly. As we crossed the start line, Matt said "Maybe I should done something.. anything.. to warm up." We ran our own races after that, but it wasn't long before I thought, "Oh, man, Matt was right." My calves were SO tight, and so were my plantar tendons. And the whole first part is rocky uphill. Oof.
But I just kept it nice and easy and kept my steps short and did what I could to minimize the stretching, and enjoyed my run.
The course is SO beautiful. I forget that every time. You start in stereotypical Texas hill country trail, and then suddenly you're in a pine forest, with a trail of soft needles and towering trees and it's so quiet and peaceful.
This is a really tall tree that was disturbing for some reason.
Oh. That's why. That's scary. I took a picture and then ran away before it could fall on me.
So many trees, it was hard to tell whether the rumbling was planes or traffic or thunder. Turns out it was thunder. Early April in Texas can go either way, but usually it goes the way of sun and hot. This day was overcast and cool and tree-covered and lovely, with low thunder rumbles.
Eventually my calves loosened up, and I was mostly just cruising through the trail, except my right plantar was still really tight. Around mile 8 I realized.. evidently that's just gonna be how my plantar is for this run. Ohwell, I can deal.
It was one loop for the 25k, which is one of the reasons I was okay with this race/distance. I still had demons from Mosaic and all those loops and having trouble, while feeling so bad, going back out again and again and again. This was a long loop, and that can have its own demons, but it didn't, and it was nice knowing that when I was back at the start, I would be done.
Around mile 10, I realized that my plantar didn't hurt anymore! I wasn't breaking any speed records, but I felt very okay. Great weather, body felt fine, running just felt kinda joyful. Been a while since I got to feel that.
This guy was on the side of the trail. He was cute. He had two heads.
I think there were 4 aid stations, and I only stopped at one to refill one of my bottles. I was pretty low on water by the end, but saved a lot of time by just cruising through the other 3 aid stations. (Covid note: Most of the aid stations were unmanned. Maybe all? Start/finish line had volunteers at that aid station, but they were all masked (and I didn't really need that aid station, since I was done).)
In the last few miles, the rumbling finally turned into rain. Mostly it was so tree-covered that it didn't really feel like rain, but some did make it down to the trail. Not enough to turn the dirt to mud, but definitely enough to make the rocks slick. No big rocks or shelves, the course is just little rocks, but still slippery and dangerous.
AND I had forgotten how unkind the last 1.5 miles or so is. It's all steep uphills and steep downhills, and several of those 2x4 bridges that are covered with chicken wire for purchase. Those were a little scary when wet, and one especially was so steep that you'd slide back down a bit with each step. Oof.
But it was worth it to have some delightful rain, and made the field part at the end extra nice, since it's one of the few non-tree-covered parts of the course.
Of course, then it made the finish line a little wet and cold once I finished, so I grabbed my medal, a 2-pack of chocolate chip cookies, and we hit the road, since Matt had finished long ago and already taken our stuff back to the car so it didn't get soaked by the rain.
I went into this telling myself it was just a fun day on a trail that wasn't the Greenbelt, and a supported run to get some hills in, and that's exactly what it ended up being. I stopped 4 or 5 times to take pictures, which isn't fast, since I have to take off my pack, get out my phone, take the picture, put the phone back in, and put my pack back on. But I didn't care about my time. I just wanted to have fun.
I mean, I was always gonna take a picture of this guy, when I came across him 11 miles into the woods, all alone, the day before Easter.
Not every run or race is going to be great, but it was nice to have one that was just pleasant and will be a great memory, to counter the food poisoning and DNF runs and races that linger in the brain.