Chilly Cheeks 2013

Last Sunday I decided to do the Chilly Cheeks 7.2 trail run in Reading, PA. I did some research and looked at a couple blogs about it and at first thought, "Hell no"! There were a couple YouTube clips. It started with a couple hundred folks running on a nice trail then coming to a dead stop to climb up a pretty steep and long hill. I mean grabbing on to roots and trees to help you get up. After looking at a couple more clips and I changed my mind. It looked challenging and fun. If it wasn't pouring down rain, I was going to run it. And I did.

The race started at 11am so Zim and our friend Novia headed up to Reading around 9:30. We were only about 45 minutes away, and arrived a little after 10am. We met up with our friend Jon who ran this same trail about a month ago for a race. He warned us that it was pretty challenging and was super, super hilly. He wasn't kidding.

At 11am around 500 people lined up and the race started. I didn't race out of the gate. I honestly wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. I even carried a water bottle with me for this race too. The first hill was the hill I watched runners climb on YouTube. It was steep, at least a tenth of a mile long (I really couldn't judge distance), and slippery as hell from the muddy and wet leaves. You had to grab rocks and branches to help you not slip and get you up the hill. Once up, the trail turned to steep rocky inclines and slippery wet and rocky declines. I felt more confident and stronger on going up the hills, but when going downhill I slowed down in fear of losing traction. My shoe were caked with mud. I'd pass people walking up the hills, then I'd get passed going down the hills every time. Kinda funny. The views were spectacular too. At one point on the trail you can see the whole town of Reading. Real pretty.

Altogether there were three incredibly really steep parts of the race where you had to grab on to trees or climb with your hands to keep moving. Granted, these parts took at least 10 minutes to get up for me. It was super TOUGH and very challenging, but I knew I could finish it. My goals were: 1)Finish 2)Not get hurt 3)Finish under 2 hours. I accomplished all three, finishing the race in 1 hour and 47 minutes. Zim and Jon came in at 1 hour 27, and Novia was around 1 hour 50 some minutes. I had a lot of fun running it and was happy that I ran it. And thank god I didn't get hurt. I came across a woman that sprained her ankle, she still powered through and finished. Zim saw a few people slip and hit their heads on rocks. Ouch! It was pretty treacherous, slippery, and super muddy. Man it was tough, but I felt like a million bucks when I finished!

The next morning I thought I'd be hurting pretty good. I actually felt decent. My quads and calfs were sore, but that was it. I gave myself the day off though. The past couple of days I haven't run, but I've been riding the elliptical and doing upper body strength. Tomorrow I might go for a short run. Yup yup.

Here's some pics: