Group pic with the folks in our carpool

On Saturday, I completed the TARC To Hale and Back 6hr trail race.  While I have volunteered with TARC in the past, this is my first time actually running in a race.  It was a blast!

A snow storm a couple weeks ago made it so that no one really know what the course conditions would be like.As I wrote in my race goals post, my main goal for the day was to have fun and maintain a positive attitude.

Tomorrow is the start of 2017 TARC To Hale and Back 6 hour race and my first trail race ever!

It's strange to think it's my first trail race...I talk about it enough.  But, truly I've never done one before.  I'm excited.  I signed up for this event as a tune up race for the TARC Spring Classic marathon next month and as a base-building exercise for this year's ultimate 50 miler goal.  It is an ambitious goal for the year and breaking it down to bite size pieces is the core of my attack plan. 

My year is laid out like this:  6 hour tomorrow...  Marathon in a month...  A mountain half marathon in June... and then a long summer of solid Ultra-specific training (more to come on what that might look like later).

Gear all laid out and ready to go. All the layers!

So tomorrow's race is the first in the regiment and looking mighty precarious.  The idea behind a 6 hour race is that participants are trying to see who can cover the most miles in 6 hours.  The course is a 3.2 mile loop and you have to complete a whole loop in order for it to count.  I have been working out race day goals in my head for the past month or so and I had to rework my thinking a lot last week after a Nor'easter dropped 8 more inches on the trails.

My race goals can now be characterized two ways:

the "before Tuesday's storm" goals and 

the "after Tuesday's storm" goals.

The before Tuesday's storm goals:

• A goal - run at least 6 laps for 19+ miles
• B goal- run at least 5 hours on the course.  

Since this is still technically part of marathon training, I don't feel the need to go over 20 miles and risk putting to much stress on my body as I'm still building up.  Also, if I'm having a rough time out there and not able to get close to 20, 5 hours seems like a decent long run and good cutoff point.

The after Tuesday's storm goal:

• Have a good time

The revised goal has me going out and maintaining a good attitude for as long as I can endure the sloppy trails.  After all, mental toughness is a skill that needs to be practice.  It's going to be a mess on the trails and possibly raining tomorrow.  I'm not looking forward to that part of it so staying positive is something I'm going to work at.

Stay tuned for the race report!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's snow trail run.  Tuesday's snow storm left about 6 inches or so on the trails which made for some interesting running.  I was able to try out my new Yaktrax (review to come soon).  I didn't fall so I call it a win.

6 days to go til the TARC to Hale and Back 6 hour race!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of spring marathon training!  I personally can't wait for spring :)