2018 BRRC Night Moves Trail Race Recap!

Or, Why You Should NEVER Run a Night Trail Race the Night Before Another Race

A friend pointed out the BRRC Night Moves Trail Race in August and I was very indecisive about signing up.  Usually I'm pretty confident in my race decisions, but this one it was a trail race.  At night.  I've run a Ragnar Trail Relay, so a night trail race is really no big deal.  But doing it without anyone I know made me anxious.  Finally the week of the race I put my foot down and signed up.  The race was inexpensive enough ($33.25 after fees), had a different premium (a 64oz stainless steel growler with the running group's name and race name on it), it was only half an hour away and I had just killed it at the Dogfish Dash so why not?  I had a 5k the next morning benefitting a breast cancer charity that helped a friend when she was going through her cancer treatment, but I'd be fine!  Right?

On race day I left about an hour and a half before gun time.  Naturally with Google Maps timing always being wrong (and traffic on 695 always being generally terrible) I arrived about 45 minutes before guntime.  Parking wasn't an issue, but I did get the very last space along what would be the later portion of the route (there were still plenty of spaces available in a field that was slightly closer to the start.)  There were portajohns close by so I took advantage of there not being a line since at this point I had no idea how many people there were coming to the race.  (Spoiler alert:  It wasn't many.)  Then I walked over to the start and got my bib.  I attached it to my hydration pack and started to take a quick inventory to be sure I had everything important--my inhaler, road ID, phone, headlamp and lip balm were all there.  But I was missing something.  My headphones.  I left my Aftershokz headphones in my car.  At that point it was too close for comfort for the start of the race so I decided to leave them there.  It'll be fine I thought.  It's a quick race and there's enough people that I would totally keep up with one or two of them.

The sun began to set and runners started turning on their headlamps.  I turned mine on and it was dim.  Again it'll be fine, I'll keep up with other runners.  But it was a much smaller crowd than what I was used to.  It looked like maybe 50 people (it was 66.)

Then the organizers called everyone to start lining up.  I lined up more towards the back by a couple ladies who seemed to be about my speed.  The gun went off and I kept up fairly well with the back of the pack.  Then within that first easy mile I passed the two ladies and realized "Wow.  My headlamp really isn't working."  So I shoved my phone in one of the smaller pockets of my hydration pack with the flashlight pointing out.  It really showed my movement and the shadows from fists coming out on either side of the darkness was super off putting at first, but it worked well enough.

"Oh what a pretty stream!  This trail is going to be awesome!"

At the start of the second mile it started to become legit trail.  And it was not easy.  Maybe it was because of the terrible lighting situation and not being in the rest of the pack that took off.  (I saw their light fade into the distance just as I was entering the woods.)  The trail itself was about what I expected--fairly rocky, some roots here and there.  At some points my arms were flailing around trying to keep me from falling.  My feet landed badly on some of the rocks and during that second mile I stepped on one that particularly hurt but after walking for a few moments I shrugged it off and kept going.  The hills were intense.  After the first major one there was a clearing in the trees and a couple volunteers were at the one water stop and I was super thankful.  One of the volunteers chatted with me a little bit while I drank.  He said there were a couple more hills but I should finish in plenty of time--probably in about 40 minutes.  Great.  Forty more minutes of water crossings, hills, rocks, roots and climbing over a few fallen trees.  This was where I started questioning my life choices and headed further into the woods.

By this point I had definitely started getting tired.  I was hot.  Sweat was absolutely dripping off of me.  I tried focusing on all the sounds in the woods because it was actually really neat to get to hear the owls!  (Not so much the rustling in the leaves.)  There were some points where my shoes were almost swallowed by the mud by the few water crossings. 

The aftermath

But I kept going.  I was among the last of the finishers (61 of 66, finishing in 1:34:41.)  But I was overjoyed to get that growler and walked back to my car.  (No post race food.  Not a big deal since I had my snack bag in the car.)  A couple more runners passed me and I assured them they were almost there.  Not too far behind them volunteers started picking up the glow sticks that were used to mark the path.  When I got back to my car I started to wipe off some of the sweat and drink from the water bottle with Nuun Immunity I left in my car.  (My hydration pack was basically empty.)

I also took a moment to check out the elevation of the race before heading home.

Yup, looks about right.  Still more hills than what the volunteer told me though.

I had packed my snack bag that I bring with me on trips (still packed from my recent trip for the Dogfish Dash.)  I grabbed a Trader Joe's peanut butter granola bar and ate that along with some Clif bar samples and kept drinking more Nuun.  I was feeling super gross.  I knew there was a ton of mud on my legs, but wasn't sure how much.  I got home, kicked off my shoes.  My left foot started feeling a little achy, but nothing terrible.  I was shocked to see how much mud was on the inside of my calves, but was happy to wash it off.  I went back downstairs for my nightly ritual of watching the news and elevated my foot because it was starting to hurt more.  I also changed the batteries in my headlamp for laughs and it was fine.  (See kids?  Always check the batteries in your headlamp before you leave the house!)

Now for the fun, injury portion of the story!

As the night wore on, my foot started hurting progressively worse.  I ended up laying in bed practically in tears as I Googled what the pain could mean.  I couldn't believe how much pain I was in and I was so mad at myself for being so dumb and running a night trail race before a 5k and while in training for two half marathons and 10ks.  I got up and hobbled to the bathroom.  Definitely had to use furniture, walls, whatever was within my grasp to make it.  My husband wondered what was wrong and I told him that I thought I sprained my foot, or worse broke it.  He got me an ice pack and I shoved an extra pillow under the sheets at the end of the bed to elevate my foot.  (I can't take OTC pain killers, so that was out.)  I tried to get some sleep, but it was really hard.  I ended up changing my alarm from the time to wake up and get ready to the time to wake up and text my friend about what happened and let her know I wouldn't make it to the race.  Shortly after texting my friend and telling her what happened I tried getting up again but it was still painful.  I made it to the bathroom again (probably not the best of choices for what I was about to do next?) and stood there moving my foot around taking inventory of what I could do.  Could I wiggle my toes?  Check.  Spread the toes?  Check.  What happens if I roll my ankle around? POP!  Almost instant relief.

I couldn't believe it.  I COULD WALK!!!

Not totally pain free, but I COULD WALK!!  I came out of the bathroom and told my husband.  He was almost as surprised as I was.  The best we can figure out is that during the trail race I dislocated a joint in my foot.  Having my shoes on must have kept the joint in place until I took them off after the race and the joint just kinda floated out of place.  The next day I took it easy and kept my foot elevated and iced it a couple times throughout the day.  

When Monday morning rolled around, I was walking around mostly normal.  The next day my husband urged me to take it easy at my usual OrangeTheory class.  I started out power walking (this group works on higher inclines rather than speed), but got frustrated with my heart rate not getting up high enough. So I started running at my base pace (5.0mph) and everything felt good!  I completed my workout with no major problems and I treated it like I would any other workout.  Afterwards I iced my foot and it was only even slightly achy again a week after the injury post long run that I had to break up into four parts because of the timing with another OrangeTheory class.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race.  However, I highly recommend checking your headlamp before you leave the house.  I would definitely recommend it if you're up for a challenge, but this one is definitely not for beginners.  There are some technical elements--water crossings, lots of roots, rocks and trees to climb over.  If you are not comfortable doing any of this in daylight, it's not any better at night.  Be comfortable with the idea of running alone if you don't have a buddy to stay with you. 

Also as general advice:  Don't schedule races so close together because you're setting yourself up for something to happen.