The Dirt Devil Highway to Heaven 15k

Here is my race report from The Dirt Devil 15k held last weekend at Mission Gorge Trails in San Diego.  The race was scheduled to start at 7am.  I have to say when it's in the 90's and unconditionally humid outside, you kind of wish they would've started earlier... I was early and unfortunately there was only one Port-a-potty. (TMI I know...)   The race director told us they had delivered the additional 4 bathrooms to the wrong location...  So if you can just imagine the people waiting in line.  I actually never got a chance to use the bathroom because the line was crazy.  I stood in it for 30 minutes before I gave up and reluctantly made my way to the starting line.  
No bueno!!!

The race actually started late. We didn't get going until 7:10. That really is not a big deal, any way the race starts and off we go...  What a sight 400 crazy runners who feel they are up for the challenge.  The course conditions were ridiculously hot and hilly.   There was one rolling hill after another.  With all the training I had put in I knew I was up for the challenge.  The cool thing about a 15k is that it's over before you know it.  The other cool aspect is the camaraderie you build on the trails.  When a race is really hot or really hard people seem to be more talkative.  Maybe it's that whole misery loves company factor.  The course was very hard.   There was lots of gravel and although I slipped several times I didn't fall.  I had my music on and a friend introduced me to a new station on Pandora called Dance Cardio Radio.  I was grooving and feeling really good.  I only had one Roctain at mile 5.  My tummy started feeling yucki and as soon as I took it I was A-Okay... My favorite part of the race came while I was walking up this hill.  I noticed there were 4 of us walking at about the same fast pace... We all started talking and next thing you know we are all listening to my music while running down the backside of the hill.  We all seemed to kick it in to overdrive and ran as fast as we could...  I think we were all trying to beat each other.  It was fun. I felt like Oh yeah baby.. This is so cool!!! Here we go!!!

I am having so much fun in this picture.  This is when I saw the and finish line for the first time... My dad took this picture and he had a whole little cheering squad saying GLORIA. I love getting out there and running my own race. I love hanging out with like minded people.  I love knowing it's not even 10 in the morning and I already went for a run.  I also love knowing that the more I train the more confident and stronger I become.  

The best part is just knowing I got a chance to compete and do my best.  I really liked the challenge of running this hard course.  I just want to say that if you read my post on Saturday I am feeling better..  Sometimes we get sad and I guess the trick is to keep moving forward and don't give up..

XOXO
G