Recently I ran my 5th race in the Grand Prix series this year, another 8 km on twisty, hilly trails. The Silver Springs race is run on a ridge overlooking the river valley, and also has a ravine that we ran up, down and through both sides of, so there were plenty of hills. We haven't had any recent snow, but over the last couple of months we've had enough that had been packed down hard on already uneven dirt paths, melted slightly and then become solid ice, with a lot of crusty bits in between. The temperature was delightfully close to freezing at only -1°C (our last race was considerably colder) and the sun was as high as it could get here at this time of the year, with a hazy chinook cloud settling in. I was happy to line up at the start with my Penguin cohorts in addition to other familiar Roadrunners.

The race director started her pre-race comments off by suggesting that shoes with short spikes would be a REALLY good idea and I lamented that I'd forgotten to slip on my YakTraks over my trail shoes. At least I have trail shoes this year - up until this fall I've just run these things in old street shoes. With due warning from the race director to "keep your feet under you" and to follow the flags we set off with lots of crunching underfoot.

Karen and Yolanda at the start

There was quite a bit of leapfrogging going on in the first part of the race, as cautious downhillers were passed by crazy ones, and then steady up-hill steam-engines jogged past up-hill-wimp-plodders. Yolanda slipped on the first downhill but kept on going. Jill and I started out together again and leap-frogged with someone named Tara for a while. After a bit of a roller coaster we settled into our paces at the bottom of the ravine and I found myself alone and merely thinking about where my next foot would go and where the next flag would take me.

Karen cranking out the kilometers

I hauled myself up out of the ravine and saw Sylvie and Tara ahead of me, heading into more trees. I saw them again as they were cresting a big hill and then lost them after that. The downhills were the usual lesson in bravery, especially with the hard, icy paths. I often paused at the top to choose my way, and didn't really let out my whoops-of-courage until I was pretty sure I wasn't going to crash half-way down. By the time I got to the 3rd and 4th downhill I was the Tasmanian Devil (the paths weren't as icy that far out either).

The flags at the bottom took me through the trees into powdery, sugary stuff that was worse to run on than the ice. Here's were strong ankles and balance really come in. Think of running in a twisty, narrow trough of sugar (loose sand would be similar). I got a fair bit of snow in my shoes, but it felt good melting into my hot socks.

I trudged up to the ridge again, and stopped briefly to enjoy the view of the river and catch my breath after 50 minutes. The path that was really close to the cliff was icy, and I wiped out on my rear even though I was being careful! No harm done, I broke my fall with my hands and sustained no bruises. I kept taking off my mitts and putting them back on as my body cycled through hot sweaty, and damp chilly phases.

Davey having fun on the run

Last km, now, back onto a path on the side of the ravine. Powdery trail and I'm breathing hard. This had been a hard race, and I wasn't sure I would be able to make my goal of under an hour. From the other side of the ravine near the finish were Sylvie and Derek and a few others shouting "3 more minutes, Karen! You can do it!" I shook my head because I've done this race before and I know about that nasty uphill finish. I gave a tentative yahoo of acknowledgement and stuck my chin down, determined to give it my best. I was breathing really hard now and stumbling in the loose snow. "2 minutes, Karen, come on, you're going to do it!" One last little down before the punishing finish and I gave a big yahoo to unleash my adrenaline fully. Chin up now, shoulders back, pump those arms for momentum, suck that oxygen, baby. Up, up, up YAY! Under 59 minutes!

Karen finishing in the sun

We stayed to cheer in Bill, Jill, Yolanda and Dave and then headed in for soup, dessert and some pleasant socializing. I sat with my buddy Dianne and held her new babe for awhile, while regaling her with highlights of the race. What fun! I can't wait until the Nose Creek race, January 10.