Coulee Cactus Crawl 2012

I am soooo behind on posting, but I still wanted to post this race because it was really fun, and got my confidence back after the 1/2 Marathon the week before.   According to the website the Coulee Cactus Crawl is

" 20 miles of narrow trails that wind up & up & up, down & down & down and through Lethbridge's river valley. Course is rated as "challenging and cross country". Individual leg lengths will vary. "

So as you can see I ran it as a team with 5 other fabulous Women. (Nicole, me, Jen, Christy, and Rachel.) I actually only knew Nicole before the race she is the one that asked me to run. If you ever want to get to know some new people sign up for a rely race with them. This was so great. I found it really relaxing to be around people that didn't really know me I didn't feel like I had to talk a lot. 

 The whether was typical southern Alberta whether CRAZY. This is our trying to stay warm while freezing picture. It was blowing and quite chilly on top  of the coulee's and sauna like heat in the bottom. It was so cold that I considered keeping my hoodie with me but so glad I didn't even the long sleeved shirt was a little warm but didn't bother me all that bad.

 Nicole ran the first leg, Jen the second, Rachel the third, me the fourth and Christy the fifth. A lot of people got lost in the coulees, the marking of trails wasn't that great, so I was really nervous about getting lost. I was also nervous about being able to do it because of the leg cramping from the 1/2 marathon. But this is a picture of me starting off on my leg of the race.

 I am in the bright shirt at the bottom, this is the finishing part  and yeah it really was that steep! 

But I love a hill and totally caught up to the lady in front of me and tried to help her out a bit. By the way I didn't get lost. My leg was great I really fell in love with trail running I want to try some more out this summer in Waterton. It was beautiful to run along the coulee bottoms in the lush grass, and then I also got to run up a bunch of stairs. I have always wanted to run up stadium stairs. I don't really know why I think I saw it in a movie once and thought "Ohhhhh that girl is tough." I think that is why I have always wanted to do it, so running up the stairs was somewhat dream fulfilling and really challenging. I am pretty sure I ran the whole way with a smile on my face because it was so beautiful.  We didn't make the time, so I missed Christy taking off at my leg but I got to see her on the trail, we high fived.  This race is really what I needed to get back into running. I loved it and got to make some great new friends. 


xoxo
Barb