My second event in the Winter Trail Run Series was at my old stomping grounds – the Redmond Watershed.  The last two years this event is a way below freezing ordeal but this year we had mild temperatures but with some wind and heavy rains threatening at any moment.  Luckily when I arrived for setup the rains were holding off and we got everything set up and registration done before even a sprinkle appeared.   I opted to run the 5-mile distance.  I had thought about increasing to the half but figured I’d wait until spring and not push it, it turned out to be a good move since the cold downpour happened about halfway through for the half marathon runners.

I wore my Luna Oso sandals with my new Tabu cover for today’s race.  This combo has become my favorite running “shoe” over the last few weeks.  My feet stay dry and cozy warm with a pair of wool Injinji socks underneath.  They weigh absolutely nothing and I still get total ground feel with them. With the dual “Monkey Grip Technology” on the bottom of the Tabu and the top of the Oso there is no sandal flop  that I had just wearing Injinjis or the polar tech tabi socks.  I am so glad Luna got the Tabu back in production in time for winter.

I started out up front to get out of the crowds and the start was fast.  Luckily within no time I was in a nice little pocket where I could see some runners in front of me and some back a ways.  I just kept up a steady pace and managed to catch up and pass a few people in front.   Coming up the hill after 4 miles of fast running was a bit tough even though it is only a 400′  hill, glad I’ve been running a lot on Tiger.   Coming down the last stretch of the Trillium Trail I had a bobcat cross the trail right in front of me, that was very cool.   I crossed the finish at 40:15 which was my 2nd best 5-mile time (I’ll never beat the 37:44 at Rattlesnake this summer) .  I beat my previous best 5-miler by over 2 minutes.  Finished 12th overall out of about 100 runners, and 8th among men.  The old guy crowd is tough, I got beat by a 61, 56 and 52 year old.  It is one thing to get left in the dust by a 16 year old female (the winner) but a 61 year old beating me by 3 minutes is hard to take.   Still, I’m running way faster than I was at 50 so I can’t complain.   Next up – Seward Solstice in 2 weeks, I’m doing the 10k distance at that one.