Not in Kansas Anymore: Nipmuck Trail Marathon

I went into this race excited and a bit nervous. I have been running my butt off for the past 6 months or so and was anxious to see if I would have improved since last year. Last year I had just started training when I ran this race. It was a great race and I thought I did well at the time, but this year I just felt like I could do better.

The weather was gorgeous, about 50 degrees- a perfect fall day. We started out on the pavement for about 200 yards then went into the woods where it bottlenecked and slowed way down for about the first mile or so- which is great, I always try to stay slow in the begining. I finally got into my groove and ran at a good pace, before I knew it I was at the first turn-around at mile 6! It flew by! The course of Nipmuck is great, single track through various types of woods, with my favorite section running along an old stone wall. I just enjoyed the views and took in the beauty of nature. I felt like I was running strong and by the time I hit the halfway I tried to pick up my pace knowing that I would probably beat my time from last year. The run was very un-eventful except for a hard fall around mile 20 which I almost landed straight on my face. I caught myself on my hands and knees and was a bit sore the rest of the race. But I continued on, trying to pick up the pace and finish as strong as possible. I ended up coming in almost 45 minutes faster than last year!! I was so proud of myself for all the miles and hard work I have put in to get to this point! I couldn't wait to run the Bimblers Bluff 50k and see if I could again beat last years time, and also gave me a great confidence boost for my upcoming Mountain Masochist 50 miler!!