Sand Dollar Shuffle Race Report

Faster runners dashed off ahead of me, their bodies reflecting across the still wet beach.  Glossy sand reflected their brightly colored outfits.  Some ran barefoot, some not.  Fog hugged the coast as we ran north.  The trip to the Little River, our halfway point, was with a steady tailwind.    So the morning humidity felt that much worse.  Runners that don't normally run shirtless had a drenched and wadded color mass bundled in their hand and bare stomach.  I was completely soaked through, but didn't want to bother with stopping for such a short race to fumble with my wardrobe.  The surrounding hills and town of Trinidad glowed with vibrant saturation.  The fog always makes the colors pop and I'm growing to love this particular weather feature of my home.

We were instructed to touch the Little River and Danny, our RD, warned of a possible salinity test on our damp hands, to ensure that we reached the river, the only freshwater on the course.

It wasn't until this week that I learned what exactly happens to me when I don't allow for recovery immediately after a sinus infection: the dragged out fatigue lingers even longer.  I haven't felt like myself since the week on the couch nearly a month ago.  But today, for the first time, I was feeling at least progress toward healthy.

Matt ran by just before I hit the river and halfway.  He had worked until 7am, caught an hour nap, and then was running this race.  He's determined to gain enough races to make the circuit, so if he's not actually at the office during the time of the race, he wants to go.  Admittedly, I expected him to look worse.  He was smiling the whole way and we gave high fives as we passed.  Later, he told me that he wasn't going all out.

The truth is, I wasn't either.  After a week of mixed runs, both great and horrible, I didn't want to set myself back by going 100%, so my effort was controlled but still hard.  I maintained an even pace on the first and second half, but I struggled more as we turned around and went into the wind.  I trailed Bob and his ponytail for the entire race.  I tried a few times to close the gap between he and I but I couldn't.  I also caught him peeking behind himself, he later admitted to knowing I was there and making sure he didn't let me pass.  He told me he was a little sour about having to watch my ponytail bob up and down all through Dow's Prairie.

As of the August standings in the Circuit, I am leading my division.  Even though I didn't catch Bob and had little competition in my own age group, I was pleased to add another win in my age group.  It just shows that you don't have to be the fastest, just the most consistent and running all the races.  Hopefully I can maintain that and nobody fast shows up to race.

My official finishing time was 37:34, and the race was advertised as 5 miles.  The RD joked with someone about it not being a certified course.  The tide comes and goes and there will never be a way to ensure this course is accurate. My Garmin gave me 4.76 mi, making that an 7:53/mi average (if it were really 5 miles it would be a 7:30/mi, but wasn't pushing that hard at all!!).

Matt finished 7th and also won his age group in 32:20.

(all photos contained in this post are credited to Y. Kim, SRRC)