You know what’s tough? Gearing up for a race on a Wednesday night when all you want to do is eat dinner. On the couch. In your sweatpants. And the only kind of ‘marathon’ you’re thinking about is on Netflix.

But you know what makes it easier? Meeting up with friends, passing the time telling stories while on the trails and the feeling of crossing the finish line. The post-race chips, salsa and burrito-fest doesn’t hurt either.

Last Wednesday marked our fourth of five races in the Portland Trail Series, a super-mellow series held weekly in Forest Park in Portland. Read about the previous week’s race here.

The plan for the evening was 5.60 miles. A little longer than the third race in the series, but a welcome change in scenery and a little less elevation.

We’d start on Leif Erikson and go up Leif to Wild Cherry, up Wild Cherry to Wildwood, then down Wildwood to Alder, down Alder to Leif, down Leif to Dogwood, up Dogwood to Wildwood, down Wildwood to Wild Cherry, down Wild Cherry to Leif and Leif to the finish.

Two of our buddies got stuck in traffic, so the plan was for me to pace Ashly again, this time to her second trail race finish. I waited until after our Wild Cherry ascent to tell her that my not-so-secret goal for the evening would be for her to finish this race in the same amount of time that we completed the previous week’s race (which was almost a mile shorter).

Even though she was leery of my plan for her to race more aggressively this time, she was a trooper! The course was in our favor, too; it leveled out quickly after Wild Cherry, and aside from a half-mile climb about two miles from the finish it felt like we had a lot of rolling flats and downhills to work with.

Ashly’s hubby Sean met up with us with about a mile and a half to go, and his extra encouragement gave her just the boost she needed to bring it in strong to the finish. I tried to capture a shot of us in action; I’ll attribute the blurriness to our blazingly-flast pace back down Wild Cherry 😉

Our final time? It was 1:12:07, just about a minute more than our time from the previous week!

I’m already looking forward to the next race. Not only will we get to spend another evening on the (hilly) trails, but there’s also a post-race party celebrating the completion of the series at a local brewery.

Stay tuned for my report from the fifth — and final — race of the series next week. Same place, same time, new route, plus party pics!

For more information on the Portland Trail Series or to sign up for next season’s series, click here.

And, with that, I am an official pacer for hire! Well, I’m free…but I do accept smiles, kind words and the occasional food-based bribe in exchange for getting you across the finish line in one piece.

Last Wednesday was the third of five races in the Portland Trail Series, a low-key (but highly fun!) series held weekly in Forest Park in Portland. Read about the previous week’s race here.

Syreeta and I had such a blast on the trails last week that she came back for even more hill-ish torture this week — as a seasoned pro now, I might add. And at last week’s practice we even managed to talk one of our fellow Team LUNA Chix Portland Run members, Ashly, into joining us for her first-ever trail race.

Ashly’s done her fair share of road racing, but this was her first off-road foray, so she was understandably nervous — not only is the terrain challenging, but the temperature also spiked back up to near 100 here in Portland. Our friend Tiffany joined in on the fun, too, to round out our LUNA Chix crew!

On the menu? An evening route of 4.78 miles. It’s the shortest of the courses so far in the series, but we didn’t let the distance fool us — there were bound to be some good hills in there.

We’d start on Leif Erikson and go up Leif to Wild Cherry, up Wild Cherry to Keil, down Keil to Wildwood, then down Wildwood to Alder, down Alder to Leif, up Leif to Dogwood, up Dogwood to Wildwood, down Wildwood to Wild Cherry, down Wild Cherry to Leif and Leif to the finish.

We lined up near the back of the pack to let the faster runners go ahead. I wanted to make sure Ashly started conservatively, which meant staying out of the fray and listening to her body so she could go at a comfortable, sustainable pace.

For the third week in a row, we started off by scrambling up Wild Cherry (aka my nemesis). We made it most of the way up at a slow jog but slowed to a walk near the top so we could catch our breaths and allow our heart rates to come down.

Tiffany and Syreeta went on ahead while Ashly and I deployed a walk-jog strategy: We’d walk up the steeper hills and jog the flats and downhills to help conserve energy and keep the focus on moving forward.

We were about a mile in when all of the sudden Syreeta came doubling back along the path to join us. Ashly led the way, and we followed her lead.

Of course, we also fell easily into a great conversation, so when we weren’t gasping for breath up the hills we were laughing over stories, and the miles quickly flew by.

Before we knew it, we ran into Yassine from Animal Athletics, who said that not only did we only have a mile and a half to go, but also that is was mostly downhill. We picked up the pace and about a half mile later, we ran into Ashly’s husband, Sean, who had already finished and was coming back to provide some moral support for Ashly in the final mile.

As we cruised back down Leif Erikson, we rounded the final corner and Ashly kicked it into high gear for the last 100 yards or so to the finish line. Our final time was 1:10:51.

I’m so proud of her for pushing through and dominating a hilly course like that in the heat. And you know what? She’s already contemplating coming back next week and making the step up to a longer distance trail race this fall. Mission accomplished; we’ve got a new trail runner in our midst!

And, as always, we’re excited to do it all over again next week! Same place, same time, different route — so stay tuned for my report from race number four.

And for more information on the Portland Trail Series in the meantime, click here.

Are you a fan of trail races? 

Two down, three to go!

This week marked the second installment of the Portland Trail Series, a low-key series of five trail races over the course of five weeks held in Forest Park in Portland. Read about last week’s event here.

The best part? Syreeta, one of our Team LUNA Chix Portland Run members, had mentioned during our Monday night practice that she was thinking of joining us for what would be her first-ever trail race. So, needless to say, I couldn’t be more excited when we saw her at the start line!

We lined up to get the scoop on the evening’s course, which measured 5.20 miles.

We’d start on Leif Erikson and go up Leif to Wild Cherry, up Wild Cherry to Wildwood, then down Wildwood to Holman, up Holman to 53rd, up 53rd to Birch, down Birch to Wildwood, up Wildwood to Wild Cherry, down Wild Cherry to Leif and Leif to the finish.

The good news, they said? The course was net zero elevation.

The not-so-good news? It was far from flat, so we could expect a lot of ups, and a lot of downs in return.

Syreeta’s already a pro on the trails, since she and her husband are avid weekend hikers. Seriously, if you want the lowdown on the most challenging jaunts and most scenic vistas in the area, she’s your go-to gal. 

But since it was her first trail race, we decided to run together and let her set the pace. My goal, I said, was to get her across the finish line A) in once piece, and B) smiling. Her goal was to run as much of the course as possible.

Wild Cherry, again, did not disappoint. #WhatTheHill

But Syreeta powered right up without stopping, so we chugged along and caught our breaths while enjoying a beautiful downhill section on the back side.

We kept a solid pace through a number of rolling hills before hitting a pretty long uphill, which I think it was the Holman and 53rd section. After taking the first part at a jog, we rounded a corner and saw it keep going up, up, and away…so Syreeta made what I thought was a great judgment call and started hiking up.

Not only would this allow us to keep moving along at a good clip (a purposeful walk over a long, steep hill can be just as quick and effective as a slow jog), but it’d also allow us to conserve some energy for later.

I was beyond impressed with Syreeta’s positive attitude and willingness to lay it all out there — her second wind hit with about a mile and a half to go, so we picked up the pace again and headed for home.

Luckily it was all downhill from here…

Syreeta led the charge to a strong finish; we wound our way back down Wild Cherry and crossed the line with a final time of 58:10.

This even included a quick backroom break about a half-mile from the finish!

We met up with Ben and got sidetracked as soon as we spotted a booth for Bogg’s Trail Butter, which was nothing short of delicious. It reminded me of my beloved PocketFuel, but instead of a gritty texture from sugar (which can start to trouble my tummy during longer races) this had more of a chunkier/crunchier texture from all the nuts.

My favorite flavor was the Ozark Original, which combines many of the ingredients found in a classic trail mix. Nuts, seeds, raisins, cranberries and a hint of semi-sweet chocolate hit the spot.

Plus, we learned a great new way for prepping food for the trails — spread the nut butter on a flour tortilla, roll it up, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Brilliant!

Can’t wait to do it again next week! Same place, same time, different route — so stay tuned for my report from race no. 3.

And for more information on the Portland Trail Series in the meantime, click here.