Three for Three - Shannon

I did 3 races in 3 weekends and finished all 3.  I have no clue how I ended up doing 3 races in 3 weekends, but I did.  Yes I'm pooped!

April 30th - Apple Blossom Trail Run

This was a 9 mile run through private orchards in Placerville, CA.  I decided to do this run this year (2nd annual) because I wanted the chance to run in an area that you can never run on your own, plus it was for a good cause, Hope House of El Dorado County.

My favorite part of the whole course

This ended up being a much tougher race than I had anticipated.  It was a cross country event.  We ran on pavement, dirt, grass, and whatever else you came upon, which meant some "blind" running was involved.  The altitude was about 3000 feet and there was quite a bit of climbing out there.  I primarily ran by myself, but I really enjoyed it once we were done with the first loop.  That's when we got to run through some forested area (see pic above) and then the apple trees with beautiful blossoms.  Oh so pretty.

The worst part of the race was, I developed my very first blister ever on a run -  AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH - with one week before my Wild Wild West Marathon.  Not happy.  Sadly, I didn't know that I was developing a blister (never having had one).  I thought it was a rock in my shoe.  So I stopped and took my shoe off, losing time, only to discover I had a blister. 

I finished in 1:51, 11th of 12 in my age group, 34th out of 39 overall (female).  Hey, at least I wasn't last :)
There are NO pictures of me during the race.  I guess the photographer got tired of waiting for me to come through or something.  There's only me at the start line - Boring.

May 7th - Wild Wild West Marathon

You can read about this fun experience in my previous post

May 14th - Dirty Secret Trail Run

This was the 1st race Pam and I have done together since last summer.  WOW! The ONLY reason I decided to do it!  Plus it was on a portion of trail that I had never been on, so...............  This was a 10 mile run in Cool, CA.  It too was a for a good cause - Project Fit  a program to bring running to young kids after school in the Sacramento area.

Shannon, Angie, Pam

We started the race with Angie, who is Mindy's sister (my running buddy at Wild Wild West).  She is coming off an awful injury and this was to be her first race.  She of course, did awesome.  Never saw her after we started until I crossed the finish line.

The turtles back together again!

I guess my legs were a lot more fatigued than I had thought and the climbs were really hard.  So I didn't do so hot and couldn't keep up with Pam after about 6 miles.  Oh well, it was pretty and I enjoyed it!

Ed and me

The best part was having Ed Walsh come down the hill to run me in for the last .1 miles.  Ed, too, has been out of running for a while, and he's coming back with a vengeance! 

In our age group, Pam finished in 2:07, 18th, and I finished in 2:11, 21st out of 27.  Angie is in the younger age group and she finished in 1:48, 13th out of 43.  Dang she's fast!

And my buddy Ed, who did the short course, finished first in his age group!! He rocks!

FTR girls rock the Dirty Secret!

I'm done with races and long distance running for a few weeks.  I will be doing a 10 miler in late July, but my next big race (and last for the season) is at the end of September and official training for that doesn't start for another month.  Yeah!  So I'm basically taking a month off (of course there will be some runs in there) and I'm going to focus on weight training, nutrition, and cycling - cause I got me a new road bike!  Oh yeah - I'm excited.  You can check it out on my other blog - As The Turtle Turns.

Stay dirty!