Raptor Ridge Race Report

I kind of just like saying that. Raptor Ridge Race Report. Kind of just rolls along, eh?

Rapter Ridge Trail Half was my 16th half marathon and my 10th this year. I had a good day today. It was a good, solid run and turned out better than expected. Got in some dirt and some hills which is always fun!

So...I was supposed to do a 20 miler on Sat and a 5 miler today per my plan but the Raptor Ridge Trail Half was the last race in the Animal Half Series for Dirt Devil Racing. Since I'd done all the others (Wild Horse, Foxy, and Cougar), I HAD to do this one, right? Oh, yeah! I decided to do 13.1 yesterday and 13.1 today.

Yesterday's run went well. I was a little tired because I went to my mom's and waited for my mom, sister, and niece to get back from their Hawaii trip (and not just because I was going to pounce on the box of Honolulu Cookie Company deliciousness!) and their plane was late. I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 but still got up at 6 to go for a run. I didn't feel too tired though. The bad thing was that I didn't get to eat before or after my run so didn't eat til we all went to lunch and by then I was STARVING. And then in the afternoon, I had a major energy crash. :( I ended up taking a nap and then falling asleep about 8:30.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning and got ready for the 90 minute drive down to Escondido. I MADE SURE I ate breakfast before I left. I did not want to crash again. I got there at 6am in plenty of time and picked up my bib and race swag.

The back of the race shirt totally cracked me up because I often think something like this when I'm near the end of a marathon or 50K and think how did I get myself into this! Because it's fun, of course! :)

Raptor Ridge started at 7 and there were 3 waves. I was in the last wave so started around 7:12. It was cool and foggy/misty and I felt pretty good. My left glute and calf were a little tight from Saturday's run but they loosened up and didn't give me any grief.

The race was held at San Dieguito River Park. The course was mostly smooth trail or double track with about a mile of single track (all hill). I had never been there, or so I thought, but it turns out the hill we hit at mile 5 was the same hill we ran during the Cougar Half, just in reverse, so I was familiar with it.

I ran easy til we started the climb up the hill. Like I said, it was a mile long and it was still cool so it was pretty nice. I did walk some of the steeper sections but ran as much as I could. Once we hit the top, it was a smooth more gradual downhill to the turnaround. I ran much more of the hill coming back since it was gradual and only walked a couple of sections. Here's a pic I took looking back at the valley as we went up the back side of the hill:

Once over the top, we had the fun downhill single track section. I ran this part much more aggressively than I did for the Cougar Run. I had a ton of fun on this section! I am proud of myself for attacking it. :)

Once down the hill, it was mostly flat to the end. I did get a little tired at the end and my stomach was a tiny bit gurgly but I finished strong. I passed about 4 or 5 people in the last couple miles including a woman who almost caught me at the end. But the RD was announcing #s and he said mine and then he said #363 and she's coming fast and I was like, "oh no, she's not going to pass me back" so found something left in my legs and beat her to the line. Ha! ;) It's the small victories that count sometimes!

I finished in 2:27 and change (per my Garmin) and that is 20 minutes faster than I did the Cougar Half back in June so I'm happy. Here's the killer medal we got:

Fierce! Don't you think? We also got a glass and a drawstring bag along with our race shirt so lots of swag for this race.

All pretty cool. I will probably be using the glass for my chocolate milk instead of beer though. ;) The Animal Half Series was pretty fun. Got to see some beautiful and interesting areas of San Diego. The courses were fun and progressively challenging but completely doable for all levels. They had cool medals and shirts and extras like beanies/hats/bags/glasses. The only thing I didn't like about the series was that you had to go to a local pub/bar for post race food and awards. Not that I was getting an award but it's fun to see that. If you live in San Diego though, it's a good deal.

Okay, it's 2 weeks until Javelina Jundred! I am officially in taper mode. Holy cow! I should be freaking out right now and I am a little bit but overall, I'm excited. Josh (@bayou) asked me at the end of his 100 if I was scared after seeing one up close and I could honestly answer him that it didn't scare me one bit. Crewing for him was probably the best thing I could have done...besides training...because I felt like I fit in there with the other runners and crew. I felt more comfortable and it didn't seem like this great unknown anymore. Oh sure, it's still scary and I still have some doubts but that's why I'm doing it. To see how far I can go. To see what I'm made of. It's going to be a good thing. :)

Thanks for reading and have a great week!