Race number 8 .... sucked!

Race number 8 brought us to Lake Chabot on June 5th!  Alle and I were going to tackle this race together.  The race had a 3 hour time limit and Alle was set and determined to help me conquer this race!

This was a very low key event, with 210 runners.

Alle and I  at the official starting line!

Alle and I set off with high ambitions, and about a mile into the race realized we were at the very end of the pack when the sweepers (who were actually carrying brooms) caught up with us.  When we finally hit the trails it didn't take long for us to increase elevation.  For the next 3 miles we increased over 4000 feet in elevation (I just found out when I looked on the race website, someone noted that from their GPS watch!).  I felt bad that I was holding Alle back from competing like she normally does!  But she didn't care, she set out to help me and that she did, because I wanted to give up!

The race went on and continued to challenge me, as my shins and calves were burning.  I turned my ankle a few times as well.  My feet got stuck in mud, and I slid in the mud as well.  There was even a fallen eucalyptus tree on the path!  There was a shooting range very close to where we were and you could hear the gun shots, kinda crazy. 

During the race I kept dreaming of the time when I would meet "calf" rock as I dubbed it.  Calf rock was the perfect rock for stretching your calves.  The thought of it was very exciting!

Calf rock and I! :)

I was very excited to see the rock when Alle and I hit mile 13!

As we were nearing the finishing line Alle made a very good observation,  we had finished the second half of the half marathon faster then the first half of the half marathon!  

Even though we didn't finish before the time limit expired, I'm still proud to say I finished. I am very grateful to have had Alle to race with and to keep me motivated along the way.  Thanks so much Alle!

After the race!  Yay! 

I can't wait to see Alle compete in this race next year!  As for if I will do this race again, time will only tell...I think it was about mile 3 when I first told Alle I didn't ever want to do this race again, but we will see...

Next race is in 2 week! 

For now it's back to icing! :)