The Snake 10 miler

Okay if you know me or read my blog regularly, you know I don't do well with heat.  I tend to do races early in the spring or late in the fall.  I regularly complain about humidity and how horrible it is for me to run in in my normal blog posts.  So when Cindy told me about this race called the Snake 10 miler, I was initially like NOPE.  Then she enticed me with things like, you get a snake name, and you get to run with little fake snakes, and there are bodies of water on the course, so the dogs can run and cool off.  You had me at the dogs can run with you.  I mean she is training/running with me anyway, so why not a supported long run where you are on a trail and you get a cool name????

This is Cindy.  Please go now and read my two posts I have up about her doing her first 50 miler with her dog Miles.  Post one is about how Cindy came to be a dog runner and post two is about her training for her first 50 miler.  You will really enjoy them, I promise!!!!

The first mile or so Stella was pulling like a crazy, which was a big problem due to the heat.  I seriously thought I was going to have to pull her at the first aid station because she was breathing so hard.  We stopped periodically for both water drink breaks and water play breaks.  It seemed like each time she took a dip, she instantly felt better.

This dog would run till she passed out, so I was very careful to check her gums for cap refill time periodically.  I also tried to listen to her breathing.  When she was doing too much gulping/burping/odd breathing, I would stop and let her drink from her portable water bowl.  I carried her water and we went through a 17 oz bottle per every 3 or so miles.  I was glad that we had multiple water stations at this race, even though it was only 10 miles because we both needed the water.  

The view from Miles.  We traded spots periodically and even though we were both running our own races, we pretty much were together the whole time.  

The good thing about this trail is much of it for me, the clumsy clutz I am, is not runnable per se.  It's more of a power hike type of course with the rocks and tree roots.  I trip on my own feet so I have to be truly careful on technical trails like this.  That helped slow us down and keep her from overheating.  

At the Land's End station, we got to pick a snake to take with us to the finish.  The rule was you had to have your snake when you crossed the finish line to show to the photographer.  I picked a black cobra.  

I love this photo.  I tend to look at my feet the whole time I run.  I try and look up when I perceive a turn or a split.  Cindy caught me several times going the wrong way because I was so into looking at my feet.  This time I did look up and I was SO confused.  Someone thought it was funny to put two signs up at the same junction.  I had NO clue which way to go.  Luckily Cindy came up behind me and we found flags on the correct way to go.  Some people took the wrong way because they didn't see the pink flags on the right way.

Stella kind of wanted to eat our snake. Overall, the course was very challenging to me, since I don't do many technical trails.  I was hoping it might take me a little less time than the previous 10 miler I did out here since the trail was not so muddy, but thanks to the heat, I did a ton of power hiking.  

In some ways, running with a dog takes your mind off of the heat and humidity, because you are worried more about them and less about you.  I will be honest with you in saying that I will not be enjoying running next weekend when it will be hotter and more humid and we have a 9 am start time.  Stella of course will not be joining me because of the lack of bodies of water close by.  We had at least three dips in the water that i can remember that were life savers.  

 I wish someone had gotten our finish on video.  She heard the conch sound to signal we were coming in and she took off like a bat out of hell.  She pulled SO hard and it just made me laugh.

This was a very fun race despite the heat.  As always trail runners are so welcoming and nice and I enjoy these events so much.  This is my second trail hawks race and I enjoy their races immensely.  I really like the trail even if it beats me up and spits me out. 

I love the different medal and the ribbon is snake skin!  The soft tank top also is a different touch to the usual t shirt or tech T.  I would highly recommend this race if you are looking for a summer trail race for next year!  Here are some of the professional and amazing as always pictures!