Sander's Saunter 25K 2018

This was not my first time out at Clinton Lake running, but my first time doing this race, Sander's Saunter.  I chose the 25 K distance, because I have lost my damn mind and I can't find it.  It was my last really big distance race of the year and a trail race that Stella could do with me.  It was suppose to be SUPER cold, so layers was the name of the game with my Mizuno base layers, plus a buff, a light wind breaker jacket from Brooks, some lobster gloves, hand warmers, and fleece ear warmers.  I don't mind running in the cold and actually enjoy it, as I have the right gear to make sure I am comfortable. 




Teri and I were planning on getting to the race about an hour early to pick up packets and take care of bathroom breaks.  I figured the race would be at the same start/finish as the other Hawk races and I was right because the theme of the day was get lost! 

stolen off of teri's page because well, I totally forget to take "before" pictures!

I am vaguely familiar with the trail system having done the Hawk birthday run, the Night Hawk (sort of) and The Snake.  I honestly don't remember ever being on the white trails but surely I have been?

When we started, we went out blue and turned up the gravel pathway out to Sander's mound.  While it was very beautiful, there were way too many people to stop and take a picture both going up since other runners were going down and then going down because I didn't want to fall and break my neck.  We settled in with a group of runners and I was kind of excited to have others around me for once.  When we came back from Sander's mound, we headed out on white for a bit.  The white trail is very rocky and technical in my opinion, so no pictures there either.  Overall, I think I tripped/almost fell 7 times total, but never completely fell so WIN!  I have never felt confident running down hill on rocks, so I quickly let the guy behind me pass. I played leap frog with a lady and her off leash dog who ran with stella for a while, once I felt comfortable letting stella off leash.  The 50K started an hour before us, and while I knew super fast 50K runners would lap us at some point, I figured it would be a while before I needed to corral her.

We ran white all the way to Land's end.  This is about the time I thought i was lost.  I knew there was an aid station at Lake Henry that we would pass twice, first time around mile 3ish.  I thought I saw it, but I didn't see the way down to it and then I backtracked to make sure I didn't need to check in/out.  They told me to keep going and keep going I did, but I kept thinking, am I going the right way?  Now a little bit about me, I am a nervous pee person, so I started getting super nervous and that tailwind just kept going straight through me.  This is an advantage to being a back of the packer at trail races, I can just step off the trail and pee and no one will see :) Until I got to Land's End, I was pretty sure I was somehow lost, so Land's End was an amazing sight!  The aid station volunteers checked us in and quickly filled both of my bottles with water and helped me get my tailwind mixed in, and sent me on my way.  They even filled Stella's bowl with water and got her fixed up with lots of love! We did a quick 4 mile jaunt around, in which we picked up blue and headed back to Land's End.  I did get a few pictures from then on, as we were close to the water and the blue trail is a little nicer.  These trails are very very beautiful, but the challenge of leaves on the trail was tough.  When you can't see the rocks, they tend to jump up and bite you!  I seriously don't see how these guys do a 7-8 minute per mile pace!  I want their floating genes!

Being on blue was so much better, and I felt like I kind of knew where I was...till I didn't.  I went to cross a road and didn't see the sign to get on the trail on the other side of the road. I could see a wrong way sign on the other side of the road,and even though the sign on my side of the road  said go straight, I couldn't tell where straight was.  I saw a sign to the side of me turning back into the trail, but just felt in my gut that the trail didn't double back like that.  I walked across the road and found the sign for the right way and continued on.  Whew.  Then I came to another spot that said straight, but when I went straight, I actually saw a wrong way sign pretty quickly.  There was a trail to the right that had pink flags, so once again I trusted that and it was right.  Whew. I was SO glad to see that dang black drainage pipe that meant I had a mile to go!

This next photo is funny only because I had stopped to take a picture of the lake and of Stella and I didn't even see Rick of Mile 90 sitting there.  Look closely as he was head to toe covered in black LOL!

He probably thought I was an idiot stopping and taking pictures of the lake and my dog, but it was SO pretty!

I am happy to say that I was shooting for 5 hours for my finish, since I run about 3mph usually on trails, and I managed to finish in a little under 4.5 hours!!!!!  I was still pretty much at the end (one runner behind me so not DFL this time), but I felt like I did much better this trail race and can't wait to do more!  That time was with a couple of pauses and backtracks and a few minutes at the aid station x 2 to refill bottles and water Stella!

As always, I can't WAIT to see the pictures from Mile 90.  I think Kristi took 100 at the finish line and Stella LOVES Kristi!  While I was hoping they would be at Lake Henry to take some Lake Henry shots, they weren't there, but I do have an amazing shot from John from the Snake 10 miler that I still need to frame with Lake Henry in the background.

  

Afterwards I felt very sore and I had a horrible headache. I actually had the headache most of my run, but it kind of went away once I drank some coke at Land's End the second time.  My neck was also sore, so not sure if I was running all tight or with my jaw clenched or what.  I had my normal coffee pre-run, but i did forget my run gum so maybe my body had gotten use to that extra kick?  I also had horrible tooth pain any time I tried to chew on the left side post race.  I guess it's from the tail wind I drank, but that hasn't bothered me before? I  only drank 4 bottles full.  As i type this several hours later, I still can't chew on that side.  So weird.

While it was SUPER cold, it was beautiful, and even though I thought I was lost several times, I enjoyed Sander's saunter and would come run this race again!   I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of the volunteers.  It was SO cold out there and windy so I know they about froze to death waiting on us!