Today was the last of the Cougar Mountain trail run series and this time, Katie was able to join me although she was not at all happy about the distance.

It was a cold and wet morning but that did not seem to deter anyone from participating.

We got our numbers and cool socks and all sat in the car chatting a bit before it started. As usual, the start time was determined by the porta-potty line but we did start surprisingly close to the scheduled time.

Jen took one last picture before heading her direction for a run while we took our places at the start line. I told Katie not to wait for me and she told me she was not planning to :)

We learned that the last .9 mile section was all uphill but the entire course was 13, rather than the 13.7 he had originally put together and off we went.

Katie took off right away and I did not even try to chase her even though there was a runner in a race skirt close to her. We took off into the woods and I had to concentrate hard. I wiped out about a mile in but managed to recover quickly and keep going. As usual, I was strong on the flats and ascents but a weenie on the descents. I kept trying to keep my feet quick and light and kept my mantra goign over and over in my head "I am agile". There was a section with a lot of technical descending (for me) and I would move over to let people go by because I figured that I would not want to be trapped behind me on that path.

At one point, I let a couple go by and saw to my dismay that one of them was one Katie and I had seen at the start -- in full on race skirt with matching top who looked like she was going to the club to play tennis. That did it. I got a bit more aggressive on the descent and quickly passed her.

I caught up with Katie around mile 10 and was very surprised. She told me to keep on going because she was going to walk the last 1.5 miles. The last mile or so was true to the race director's word and a pretty unpleasant ascent. I alternated between running and race walking for a bit and then finally ended up just walking although I worked super hard to keep my pace up by really moving my arms. At the end, this skinny kid blew by me and some guy I was walking near (see kid in blue shirt in first picture) and I complimented him and then told the guy next to me that it was probably his second lap around. I finished feeling strong and happy to be done!

13 Mile Trail Run Race @ 2:24:39 (11:02 Pace)