A Slight Change of Scenery: Silver Falls Trail Half Marathon “Race” Recap

Well, I haven’t blogged in awhile. I stopped for a bit when I was taking it easy due to some Achilles soreness, but I seem to be on the mend, and bouncing back ok. I got my mileage up to almost where it should be, and completed a really tough half marathon course on Saturday! (Recap coming soon!)

There’s only 2 weeks left until my “goal” race, the EWEB Run to Stay Warm, and I’m feeling pretty good about it at this point. I’m not sure it’s going to be as fast as I had initially hoped, what with my 2 weeks of recovery (stupid Achilles!) but I do think I have a pretty good shot at a PR!!

On to the race report:

This was an inaugural race, and as soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to sign up. With only 400 spots, I had a good feeling it would fill up fast, so I signed up within 24 hours of “thinking” about it. (That may be why I ended up with number 15! :)

What made me so excited about this course? I love Fall, I love waterfalls, and I love trees! And this had everything. The pictures I’d seen of Silver Falls were amazing, and I really wanted to be a part of it. Well, this race did not disappoint!

When I signed up for the race, I knew I wanted to use it as a “training run” rather than a “race”. When I saw the elevation chart, I knew I wouldn’t be going too fast… I still knew it would be perfect for a scenic jaunt through the forest with my camera. We carpooled down to the race with some friends, which was a great idea because it was a long drive. We got there with plenty of time to spare, hit up the restrooms, and picked up our packets. While waiting for our packets, we ran into Jen! and Zach Hi! After getting our packets, we went back to the car to keep warm before the start. Soon enough, though, it was time to line up, and off we went.

The first mile or so was on a wide paved section, which I’m sure allowed those out there racing to find their groove before hitting the trail section that followed. Soon enough, we were making our way through the trees and enjoying the fall scenery!

I’m so glad I recently got my hands on some trail shoes. They really do make trail running a little more enjoyable. I was definitely more comfortable climbing through mud and rocks! I don’t like slipping! There was one section that the line of runners in front of us stopped at. It was a short steep muddy decline, and without my trail shoes, I would have had to have J help me get down it, but with them, I felt a little more confident. (I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to steep down hills, especially on trails, and especially when I’m running!)

Overall, the first few miles were relatively flat, and we were just soaking in the environment. We were in a relatively large group of people at this point, but it would clear up soon enough. Eventually, we made our way to the hills. But with the hills, came the beautiful waterfalls! Miles 6-8 were mostly downhill, and were followed by some nasty uphill, including a large amount of stairs! “House of Pain” was written at the bottom. I think that sums it up! I was feeling pretty good until about mile 9. A little sore, but I expected it since trail running is definitely a challenge, but this course was really challenging! It seemed the hills might just be over at Mile 12, when we could hear the cheers at the finish. But alas, the worst hill of them all was still to come. We walked that guy, and the subsequent downhill (holy steepness!) Although I had trail shoes, I have a huge fear of tripping and falling to my death. I probably just need to get out there and practice a bit, but with how heavy my legs were feeling, it was probably a safe choice to take it easy.

Soon enough, the downhill was over, and a few turns later, we were crossing the finish line! It wasn’t a PW (that still belongs to Nike Women’s Half :), but I like to think of it as a trail half marathon PR! Road races and trail races are definitely different beasts, after all!

Although this was a super challenging course, it was a lot of fun. We ran by 10 waterfalls, and behind 3 of the larger ones. Nothing beats running behind waterfalls! It was a beautiful course, and definitely worth all the soreness I had the rest of the day! (And maybe a little bit the next day…) The race was well organized, and the course was marked amazingly well; I never once wondered about a turn. There was no getting lost out there!

I would definitely recommend this race to anyone, and to get you excited, here’s some pictures I took while I was out there:

One of the many waterfalls: