A Brazen good time...new years eve half

My boyfriend was going out of town, my mom is in so cal as are many of my friends and although I could travel I have TONS of papers to grade and kittens to hang out with.  I was browsing through active.com and saw a new years eve race and thought, why not?  I don't have anything else going on and I need to get in 15.  But, I haven't been on the trails in a while (other than hiking) so I was a little nervous as to how my legs/knees would deal with the climbing.

The start

Joe heading out on the paved trail

I woke up at 6 to get my act together and take my boyfriend and a few friends to the airport.  Since the race was real close to the airport I went directly to the race location where I had about an hour to warm-up, use the restroom, and freeze my butt off.  I waited patiently for some familiar faces to arrive and as I waited I figured out that I needed to pick up my timing chip (thank goodness I was being observant).  I guess I was a little too prepared for how much time I had.

Jason and some fellow FOMOs on the trail

After a mile warm-up with friends I realized I needed to decide on my final race outfit.  I was freezing so I played it safe with ear warmers, arm warmers, and leggings.  I don't think I ever actually warmed up either since I wore them almost the whole race.

Aron, Kim and I getting started

We started lining up and then the horn sounded.  I planned on starting with my friends Kim and Aron and so I did.  I enjoyed chatting with them for the first four miles as we winded through the small rollers and around the lake.  Then into mile 4 there is this huge hill and not only is it huge, but steep and difficult.  I was trying not to walk, although I figured I would eventually have to, so I pushed myself running up the first portion of the hill, then I walked for a little while, and then pushed again.  Although I did walk I was proud of how much I managed to run and that I limited myself to only very steep portions.  After the initial massive hill I ran the rest of the way, YAY!

Almost finished

I had gotten a bit ahead of my friends so I decided to push on because I was still freezing cold.  I Made it through some pretty tough and harsh downhills shortly after I reached the top.  These downhills wound through a very shady and green area with sticky mud that reminded me of my favorite trails in Skyline. I was worried about my knees with all the downhill so I tried to just let my body go on the downhill since I figured holding back might do more damage (downhill running is really something I've been working on).  I made it around the whole lake and over some steep rolling hills without stopping and down to the finish line.  Yay!  I finished my first official trail race at 2:06:25 5th in my age group after 1,629 ft of climbing.  After a wonderful morning run I was done freezing and headed home to enjoy a big guilt free breakfast.

If you ever have the opportunity to run a Brazen race I would highly recommend it, I really enjoyed myself and the scenery.
Happy New Year everyone!