Rocky Raccoon 25k

I ran my 2nd 25k Saturday morning on the trails in Huntsville State Park.  I ran my first 25k on the same course at the Hogs Hunt race earlier this year.  I'm happy to report that I got my 2nd 25k PR this year as I improved by time unofficially by about a minute and a half.  2 PR's at a new distance for me in the same year is pretty cool; even cooler is that running right under a 9:30 pace there is still plenty of room for future PRs, especially if I run a 25k on the road.

I let my HR soar today; according to the garmin data download, my max HR was 174 with an average HR of 160.  Both of those numbers were off the charts (and not in a good way). 
 
I saw a couple falls while on the course Saturday and heard of others comparing post race stories.  I still have not fallen on a trail race or even training run.  I'm convinced that my running gait is made for off road.  While I look goofy with my high step on the road, I have no issue with roots on the trails.

I just realized today that the 25k distance is quite a bit further than the half distance that I'm used to racing.  Where I would normally be in the clubhouse at 13.1 miles, I wasn't quite at 85% of the 25 distance Saturday morning.  That extra 15% is pretty significant.  My 2 25k's have gone pretty similiar to my 4 marathon distance events.  I run out of gas before the end of these races.  The last time that I ran 15.5 miles was for the Hogs Hunt event back in May.  I'm thinking I need to get in at least one (probably more) long runs before my Disney challenge in January.

I had some nice lawn mowing recovery this afternoon followed by road/driveway sweeping.  Gotta love that cross training!