Category: trail hawks
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The Hawk 100 is on Saturday!
Awesome I’m very excited! I’m very nervous! I’m very ready to be on the trails!
The Hawk is race #3 in the slam. My halfway point. The closest race to Kansas City.
I’ve been worrying about this race since I decided to try the slam. I’m not very experienced in technical trail running. It is definitely a weak spot for me! I have a LOT of excuses. From “the trails are too far away” to “I don’t look good with a beard.” But on Saturday, the excuses don’t matter.
In case I haven’t explained, for the super slam of Kansas ultrarunning, I must complete every race. A DNF ends the slam. Then this becomes a blog about…I don’t know…microwave cooking, I guess? Needlefelt? Bird…baiting?
But let’s not think about failure! Sure, I could have trained on trails more. I could have done more strength training. I might have upped my supplement game.
All of those are great “could haves.”
What I did, though, was pretty good. I started way back in January with cactus roulette.
Cactus roulette: confidence builder (photo courtesy of mile 90 photography) I did very well! I ran the nighthawk 50k.
Nighthawk: Practice running at night. (Photo courtesy of mile 90 photography) I feel like I did good there, too. I ran the snake 10 miler and was super at running the runnable sections. And Sydney and I had a really nice time running some loops during the trailhawks birthday party.
My fitness is up, thanks to some recent long runs. I’ve taken a break from working overtime to rest. We have a good nutrition and hydration plan.
And, of course, I have the world’s greatest crew and real top-notch pacers signed up to carry/drag me kicking, screaming, whining, and crying to the finish.
So here I am, somewhere between psyched-up and psyched-out. It’s pleasantly uncomfortable, like a sauna, or a necktie with a cool pattern.
Let’s GO!
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TLDR: I thought of most of this while Sydney and I ran around Clinton Lake for the trailhawks 11th birthday party. I thought that with “The Hawk” coming up, this might be kind of funny.
HBD! Another great trailhawks event! I am not much of a trail runner. I like trail running just fine. I mean, I’m not ANTI trail or anything. I totally see the appeal. I just think that in their hurry to promote the sport, the more avid, enthusiastic trail runners might gloss over some of the less appealing aspects of this particular activity. For instance:
The bugs. This is number one on my list of things I dislike about trails.
H.B.I.C. and I showing off our braille. It reads “trail running sucks” I get eaten alive by all manner of pests. Bug spray? Repellent? All that does is get in my eyes and all over my water bottles. Or what if the bug spray IS working? Oh my God! Can you imagine how much worse the biting would be?
And how about your friendly neighborhood spider? That is an industrious bug! It can rebuild a web in the 5 minutes between runners, ensuring everyone gets a faceful.
Lastly, and least…ly? The weird, random, unavoidable clouds of gnats hovering on the trail. Usually right around a bend or just after a downhill section.
The terrain:
Some trail runners are amazing! They fly over the rockiest, rootiest, most rutted ground like it’s the track at your local high school. They run full speed over unstable, unfriendly ground at a constant pace (faster than I’ve ever ran) for entire ultramarathons. I, on the other hand, go 5k and start picking my way gingerly down the downhill sections and dramatically powerhike the uphills.
The Views:
“Oh! The views when you run trails are so breathtaking!”
“Oh! It’s so pretty! You don’t get these views on the roads!”
Probably. I wouldn’t know. The views I get are
A. The ground 3-10 feet in front of me or
B. The runners that are going past me as I step aside to let them by.
Sometimes you CAN get a nice view.
Oh! It’s so beautiful! So pretty! 
Oh! You can’t get a view like this running on roads! And if you don’t take in the ground view by hitting it face first, it’s even better 😂
Speaking of hitting it face first…
The injuries:
Like running isn’t tough enough! The types of common injuries from just plain running range from head to toe, literally! https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a35994829/running-injuries/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=arb_ga_rnw_md_pmx_us_urlx_17889989192&gclid=CjwKCAjwxaanBhBQEiwA84TVXCfUm0-OMQOnDm_6tK4-2RzyUUKc0flfTRtglKjIwhi_6NhsECffVxoCQCwQAvD_BwE
Now we are on trails. Go ahead and add broken teeth, sprained wrists and fingers, stubbed toes, and snake bites to the list!
Other people:
So you still want to run trails? Great! Get to the trailhead early! If it’s a good day for trail running, it’s also a good day for mountain biking, nature photography, family hiking, weed smoking, day drinking, teen necking, and off-leash dog walking. Most of the people I encounter on the trail will be friendly and nice. The problem isn’t with “the people.” The problem is “people.” I’m trying to get my shuffle on, and some lady is piling leaves over her dogs mess. Or I’m trudging a tough uphill, and a gang of bikers comes bombing down that same hill. Or I finally hit a nice pace on a rare run-able stretch, and there’s a family with a toddler, trying to practice walking.
I know I’m coming off as grumpy and anti-social. And it’s pretty selfish, thinking other people enjoying the same thing I enjoy is a problem. But they’re not doing it right! *stomps foot*
Soon, I will be trying to cope with all of this (and more) during a 100-mile trail ultramarathon. I’m only a tiny bit nervous! The Lawrence Trail Hawks put on awesome events with fantastic support. Sydney has a great team of crew and pacers lined up. Hopefully, there’s a break in the weather, so the only things I need to worry about are the distance and the terrain. And the bugs.
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I’m sitting at a sidewalk table in front of a coffee shop/business center. I’m waiting for Sydney so we can have our usual midweek lunch date. I absent mindedly scroll through some photos from last weekend
The Snake The Snake: A 10(ish) mile run around Clinton Lake that I was using as another practice for the Hawk 100. This race utilizes the connector trails between the blue trail and the white trail. I found it very fast and runnable for the first half. At the halfway point, you take a toy snake as evidence you actually made it. Last year, the only snakes they had left were teeny-tiny ones. This year, I got a pretty decent sized one. Either I showed up a lot faster, or they got more large sized snakes. Either way, pretty cool!
Diva dash The Diva dash 5k & 10k is a ladies only event. I volunteered just to stay involved. At first, I was a little miffed about my assignment. I was waaay over in the corner! How would anyone see my pretty tutu? Hand-made, by the way. Once I saw where I actually was, I realized I had a very important position. Where once the route had turned, this time it went on quite a bit further. I had to guide several runners onto the new way. Only one was verbally upset. There were so many fantastic people running that event, and I felt very honored to be a little part of it.
The rest of the weekend was spent crafting and shopping, cooking and eating, relaxing and socializing. The way a weekend ought to be. Maybe, once the slam is over, I’ll be able to sleep past 5 a.m. on a weekend. Meanwhile, I’ll just try to enjoy the moments, and nap when I can.
Phil and I at Diva Dash 
The 2 mile mark. Where I’m standing used to be the turn. Can you see the new turn, way back there? 
Garden fresh string beans with butter and garlic 😋 
Some of the snake crew: Chelsea, Sydney, and Nick 
Beautiful overlook park at Clinton Lake 
Ben was 1st place overall at the snake 🐍 -
Sydney and I ran the Lawrence Trail Hawks night trail run, The Nighthawk. Syd ran the 10 mile, and I ran the 50-kilometer. We had some friends running the 20-mile race. Everyone there was super nice and very cool.
The race itself was neither nice, nor cool. I feel it’s pointless to comment on the weather unless it’s violent storms or tornadoes or something. However, the lack of violent, torrential rainstorms preceding this race made for a hot, sultry night.
I guess the good side of that is the trails were in really good shape. The trails around Clinton Lake are mostly rooty dirt with some rocky spots. As we ran on through the night, they transformed in my mind to the cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy.”
The course is a 10 mile-ish route from Overlook Park to Land’s End on the white trail and back to Overlook Park on the blue trail. So the 50k was 3 loops. There was a 10 hour cutoff. I expected to finish in about 8 hours. My actual time was closer to 9 hours, but I’m very happy I finished at all.
There were a lot of dnf’s and runners dropping down to less distance, which is smart. The only reason I didn’t is I have a touch of “imposter syndrome.”
The plan was to run with our friend Adam. That plan didn’t last very long. A wardrobe malfunction with my gaiters forced me to stop. I never would have kept that pace, anyway. He is just too fast! I saw my pacer from Prairie Spirit, Ben. He was on the struggle bus with a bad stomach. Unfortunately, he had to drop out, but he’s very talented. I’m sure he’ll be back.
A couple of our friends did really well in the 20 mile. Nick took 3rd place, and “coach” Ben won! Quite the achievement!
The second loop was the worst! I had stomach problems. I had lighting issues. I couldn’t run for very long before I had to walk up a rocky hill, or down a rocky slope, or through a rooty path. It was very frustrating. When got to Land’s End, they were out of watermelon! The volunteers at this event were great, and they were cutting up more watermelon at the time, but I couldn’t wait. I just grabbed a gross gel, some chews, and a stinger waffle and went on my way.
When I got back to the start, I put on a new waist light I bought just for this event.
Nighthawk has an (earned) reputation for being extremely buggy. I had been advised to use anything but a headlamp. I had knuckle lights, which worked okay, a small clip on light which faded really quick, the fanny pack waist light, and a headlamp as a last resort.
Since cactus roulette I don’t trust carrying just one light. I kept my knuckle lights in my pocket. I was now hands free! I ran out for my 3rd and final loop.
I felt much better on my last loop. The new lighting helped a lot, and I ran much more. I was feeling good (considering), and I was really excited to finish.
I got to Land’s End and thanked them for sticking around for me. I was sure I was the last runner on the course. They told me so many people had dropped! I ate some watermelon and bacon, grabbed more snackies, and burst back out for the last leg.
I thought about calling Sydney at every landmark: I just left lands end…I just crossed the creek…I’m over the dam…I’m across the road…at the bridges now…just running on those weird rocks…past the picnic table…I decided it would be better to just finish.
One of the coolest finishes I’ve ever had! The lights of the finish line were shut off, on account of the bugs. Someone saw me coming, and they turned them on as I approached! I felt like a rock star! The photographer had some camera issues, so I got to do it again!
The finisher swag for the 50k was a handmade wooden medal, an event and distance specific oval sticker, a carabiner mug, and an awesome running jacket.
The Nighthawk 50k was an awesome experience. It was very tough, but also very rewarding.
W.W.R.H.D. 