Run for the Toad 25K 2010

I did it!  I ran my first 25K.  We started off in a very light drizzle, which actually felt good.  I was glad that it wasn't hailing as it did one year.  The first 12K went really well; my friend and I were running at a good pace and I was feeling fine.  I was looking forward to food at the halfway mark because I was starving, but I didn't see any out yet, only water and Gatorade.  That was a disappointment, but we kept going and luckily at the next aid station there was food out.  Those potato chips were the best chips I'd ever eaten!  The salt was delicious.  There were also M&Ms, cookies and Coke.  That was the boost I needed to keep going.  The first time around the loop there were some muddy places but they could be avoided and the track was pretty good.  You have to watch your footing carefully due to all the tree roots and rocks, but it was great to run through the forest.  However, the second time we did the loop it was a different story.  The rain came down much harder and with all the people running through the path it turned into a mud bath.  I was really wishing I had trail shoes.  Many parts of the path were literally unrunnable.  In some parts I was just skating on the mud and I could barely walk without falling, let alone run.  I was frustrated, because with 8K to go my IT band started hurting and my knee was in pain, and I just wanted to power through the rest of the race but I couldn't because of the mud.  My friend and I finished in 3.5 hours and we were happy with that, although it wasn't our best time, but the mud really slowed us down.  I can't believe we ran almost continuously for 3.5 hours!  Another friend (who ran a great race and came in way before us) has a GPS watch and it told him he burned over 2,000 calories during the race.  Bring on the M&Ms!  The race is very well-organized and I like Pinehurst Park; it's a nice setting.  They had Tim Horton's there and a tent with physios doing sport massage; that was wonderful.  It was a cold rainy day but I'm so happy I did it!  My knee is totally shot but (crazy as it sounds) it was worth it.  Now the only question is which trail shoes I should buy for my next race...