Coming Up: Hells Hills!

Saturday is my first trail race...ever. I'm going into this with only two trail runs under my belt, so I'm a bit nervous. The race is Hells Hills - a 25K (15.5 miles) trail run in the tiny town of Smithville, Texas...so tiny that there is not even a hotel in town. Tomorrow after work, I'll load up the car and head to Bastrop, where I'll be spending the night in a hotel. Saturday morning will be a fun 5:00 am wake-up call, then I'll head to the race site (hopefully I can find it) for a 7:00 am start.

My nerves going into this race stem from a few things - One, never having done a trail race, I'm not sure what to expect. Two, I have a marathon next weekend. I don't want to get hurt doing this race (doesn't help that I'm super clumsy), so I need to be extra careful. And, three - the course. Unfortunately, I think the name 'Hells Hills' is pretty indicative of the course. The email we received from the race director described the terrain as 'A fair bit of rocks, a collection of rolling creek bed drop-ins and roll-outs, a twisty-turny riot of single-track trails, with the Wall & the Grind at the end of each loop.' I don't know what the 'Wall' and 'Grind' are, but they don't sound fun!

My plan:
First and always, have fun. And everyone says how friendly and helpful trail running folk are. Suits me fine.

Second, I plan on starting kinda slow, getting used to the course, and finding my own race pace.

I plan on shortening my stride up the hills, power walking on the steeper ones, and not taking the downhills too fast so as to avoid quad injuries.

If folks want to pass, I'll let 'em. If I need to pass someone, I'll be patient and wait for a wider spot in the trail.

And again, I plan on just plain having fun. If you have any other suggestions on how I can better enjoy my first trail race, I'm very open!

Hells Hills, here I come!