San Felipe Shootout!
Friends, this past weekend I ran the 10k course at the San Felipe Shootout and I had an absolute blast. This was my first race in a while and it was a trail race! Now some experienced trail racers may laugh because the course wasn’t THAT hard but for a city girl, it was hard enough!
The Race Location
San Felipe is a town outside of Houston. It was a bit of a drive but honestly that’s how it is to get around Houston anyways. I didn’t mind getting up early and driving out. Jordan was nice enough to join for support so he drove. The race is actually at a state park so getting there was easy! The weather was great for race day. The temps at the start were in the mid 50s and slowly creeped up as the sun came up.
Race Strategy
It sounds like I had some big plan for this race but I honestly didn’t. The last time I did a trail race was during the pandemic and that trail had a lot of loose sand. It kicked my butt but it was a fun experience. For this race, I went into it with no expectations. The main goal was to keep my eyes open so I didn’t fall or get lost! I actually met up with a Instagram friend before the race which was nice because we talked a bit about the course. Neither of us really train hills so we were a bit nervous. She actually kicked butt and ended up placing 2nd place!
The Race Itself
The cute (not really) part of this race is that it starts (and ends) with stairs. These stairs were so steep so there was no way my little legs could take them quickly. The 10k race was two loops so the first loop was simply following the signs. Trail Racing Over Texas does a great job with course directions. There was one point where I nearly went off the path but that was simply because I was focused on not falling.
For some reason, I always think I can run the trails like I do the road. Spoiler alert, I can’t! I got way too excited and went out hot. There was a girl I followed for about two miles when my shins were telling me to stop. The ground was soft but not terrible. It’s just an adjustment that my legs need to make so I’m hoping to work on that in the future. From that point on, I would take breaks every half mile. The breaks were small enough to catch my breath and let my shins/calves cool off a bit.
This is the part that made me so happy. Normally I would have kicked myself for stopping to walk during a race. I would have let the negative thoughts take over when I had to walk up the hill. This time was different. I knew that the walk breaks would help me stay strong. I slowly jogged up most hills and I was proud of that. My body is very strong and this is still a new adventure for me. I chose to stay positive though it and simply enjoyed the trail and woods around me.
By the second loop, I was in the zone. I found someone to run with and forced myself to SLOW DOWN. It was at that point where everything kind of fell into place. That’s also when I realized that I was getting close to the finish! At this point the sun had come out and it was starting to get warm. I realized that my pack felt lighter and I was probably halfway through my reserve. I wasn’t worried as there’s a MASSIVE table at the end with hydration and snacks but it did remind me that high temps are around the corner for us in Texas!
What I Learned
I ended up finishing this race faster than my last trail adventure so I’m happy about that. I’ll have to make a few trips out to different trails to try to get my legs used to. Also, I took one downhill quite fast and my knee didn’t like that. While I can train the incline with my Peloton, I’ll have to find a way to work on downhills. I’m curious to try a few more of these races so I may have to look at adding a flask to my pack. Texas weather can be harsh over the summer and that’s where most training takes place for fall races.
I absolutely had a blast during this race and I will definitely be doing it again! I’m excited to give the trails more time and giving some more technical races a shot.
Did you race this weekend? Have you ever done a trail race?
