First trail race in Brazil: LOVED IT!

What an EPIC day! I signed up for BTR half marathon trail run after reading this book, getting out a bit of my comfort road run. I encouraged others runners in the office to join me but no one made it. So alone I went. The race is located at the National Park of Brasilia, about 30 min drive from home which was super convenient. There were over 700 runners but mostly on shorter distances (5, 10, 15km) and about 170 between 42 and 21km which is what I did. It was super cold so I stayed in the car until it was time to start at 730. I wasn’t nervous because my goal was to finish without falling (my biggest fear with trail runs), and really enjoy the scene.

The path is clearly marked, always another runner before/after me, the road is mostly dirt and relatively flat, not technical at all, so not a real trail experience but being outdoor was what I wanted.

The first two miles went by and I realized that I wasn’t running slow (10:23, 10:05) as I expected and felt good so I accelerated a bit. For the next 8 miles I ran between 9:00-8:40, feeling strong and absolutely loved the experienced. My mental game was to count how many runners I could pass, I lost count after 20. I only struggled to hold on the pace around mile 10. Then I passed an old Japanese looking man who looked like a seasoned runner. He looked at me, surprised, then tried to pass me. I smiled and thought: catch me and I pressed acceleration a bit more. He gave up after 5 min. I never looked back during the race because I wanted to run my own race. I was listening to music the whole time so I couldn’t even hear if someone was behind me. Yet, this pic tells an interesting story, so many behind me and I was still smiling, happy inside out pushing my body (HR averaged 155-160 almost the whole race). When I finished, a lady came to me to say that I helped her in the last stretch where we had a 0.5 mile of steep ascend. That she was following me to not-stop.

I finished 2:01:32, 6th overall women, 3rd on my age group. I was proud standing with these amazing women.

The winner finished 1:45:30, and these two ladies finished 1:59:39 and 1:58:02, so quite close. I know I could have pushed it harder so I am planning to come back next year. I went out conservative because I wasn’t sure the terrain and thought I shouldn’t run road race pace. Well….. now I know I could have. Yet, zero regret. I loved the whole experience and want more of it.

I got home almost noon because I waited for the award ceremony. I had lunch with the girls and went for my two hours nap/read. This time with a special guest Bubble, first time ever she was so peacefully staying with me.

she got comfy after a while

I love this:

Racing is really so much fun! The rhythm of running with others, holding on pace that one would never hold during training, the finishing area, the nervous before the start, the unknown of what could happen there, all make it so much fun!

This year, I’ll do a road half in August, hoping to PR, and then New York marathon, hoping to finish and enjoy the scene. Next year, I’ll do more trail run if I learn the techniques. I found a group that runs on weekends, exploring different trails in Brasilia, will join them after NY to be cautious.