Race Recap: 5th Annual Bulow Woods Trail Half Marathon 12/8/18

Saturday 12/8/18 was the 5th Annual Bulow Woods Trail Race. They have an Ultra (50k), a half marathon (which i did) and a 4.25 mile run. Last year I ran the 4.25 mile race in different conditions. I remember all the mud and the water up to my knees thanks to the recent hurricane. I knew this year would be dryer even though I did enjoy the challenge that was last year. 

I decided to go with the half marathon this year for a few reasons. 1- I like running longer races at my long run paces for training. 2-I wanted to use this to see if running a 50k could be something I'd be interested in. 3-I really enjoyed this race last year and wanted more. 

The Race
My long run pace is around 7:00-9:00 so I have a pretty good range of times I could run. I didn't really set a time goal and decided to run based on feel. I didn't want to start off too fast because I know trail race paces are different. 

Miles 1-4
8:05, 7:33, 7:49, 7:35
These miles were pretty straightforward. I hiked this part the week before and knew the section pretty well. It was dry for the most part and not super technical. I think my trail running form has improved but I still have work to put in. I felt this was a pretty good and easy pace during this section but knew it would get more challenging. 

Miles 5-10
8:14, 8:56, 9:13, 8:17, 8:37, 9:37
I was right about it getting more challenging. The 50k and half runners split off and crossed a street into another section of trails at this point. It started with this beautiful view then led into a pretty technical trail. It wasn't very wet but there were points here that had quite a bit of mud. My shoe fell off somewhere around here and I had to recover it haha. It was pretty comical to see I bet. I tried to do my best to keep running, and think I only had to walk once over a puddle and mud. The turnaround was around mile 7. They had a nice aid station where I got a gel and some coke to drink. I knew I had to go back through the same action again, but it seemed easier probably because I knew what was ahead of me.

Miles 11-13.9
8:34, 7:54, 8:07, 8:18
Things started to get easier back on this loop. My legs felt pretty tired from working so hard. I stopped at two aid stations here for some water and potato chips. Things were pretty uneventful here. The course ran at about 13.91 miles which they told us ahead of time would probably happen. 

After Party/Swag
I didn't get any pictures since I used my phone app and left it in the arm holder the entire time. We got these great finisher medals/long sleeve shirts and a cup that we could fill up with rum runners or lemonade. They also had a bunch of food out for us including sweets, chili, chips, and some other goodies. The top 10 males and females in each race took home hoodies in either red or green (I picked green this year). I am thinking that a 50k is in my future probably in May because of how much fun I had. I really enjoy trail runner especially longer distances. As for now, I have one more race of the year and then an "off season". 

Results
Time: 1:56:22  13.91 Miles
Pace: 8:16
10th Overall
2nd Overall Female