Capitol Peak Mega Fatass 26K Race(ish) Report

Training has been going well, and I’m getting challenged in new ways, which is awesome! I’m very excited to see where training will take me this year. Part of my training today was to run a local fatass race – the Capitol Peak Mega Fatass.

Besides the fantastic name, fatass races are great because they’re sort of like an enhanced group run rather a regular race. Very basic amenities maybe (this one had portapotties, water, coursemarking, and great volunteers), but no high fee, t-shirts, swag, food, or whining. (Sooo… a bunch of crazy yet harmless people running in the woods for basically no payoff except the joy of running long distances for fun.) This was my first time doing one and it was a great experience.

The weather at the start was typical winter PNW – brisk 38 degrees and damp. Perfect running weather, and the course was super runnable! Some forest road, some little-used singletrack, and most of it was well-used and worn trails. Basically no technical stuff except for a little sticky yet slippery mud and some muddy ice at a high point. It’s seems rare to find a trail race with decent mileage that is so runnable. (And since I tend to run technical trails like a cautious grandmother, these trails were great.)

Not too many views today, but the runnable trail made up for it!

One thing I found interesting is that this was the first solo race for me in quite a while. Adam has done all of the others with me in the past 14 months, and I got used to his calm presence and humorous quips being there during a race. (He really is a nice fella to have around, and that day he was off running a half marathon with a buddy.) I’ve done many races solo before he started racing with me, so it’s not a big deal, but I didn’t expect to feel a pang of loneliness without him there. (Sorry for the marital emotion – whew.) However, when we both got home from our respective races, it was fun to share our different race day experiences.

One thing I kept thinking about during the race, though, was alllll of the amazing women marching  around the world for equality! I “marched” in my own way today with this race with this great pin a friend made and gave to me. <3 This is not the end, but just the beginning of our activism.

As always, to finish up, here are some quick numbers from today:

Finishing time: 3:18:01

Elevation gain: ~1,700 feet

Calories consumed: ~500 (5 Glutino Oreos, 1/4 roasted sweet potato, pouch of apple/sweet potato/carrot baby food (it worked great, no judging!)