Salem Lake Trail 30K

Salem lake is a beautiful, serene lake adjacent to the town of Winston Salem. The local running club hosts a few races that use the trail around the lake and the adjacent walk/bike way for events. 

Background

I signed up for the 30K trail race. I've  been running 12 miles on weekends, and having completed a half marathon distances, I still felt apprehensive about jumping directly to a full marathon. I found this race which was 30K/18.3 miles, and that fits nicely between a half and a full marathon. 

Shoes

Since this was going to be a trail run, I was concerned about my shoes. I have a selection of road running shoes, but did not have any trail running shoes. I deliberated a lot whether I should buy new trail running shoes or stick to ones I've worn in the past. I even went to Academy sports and bought myself a pair, but there seemed something wrong about that specific pair, so I felt uncomfortable wearing them when I tried them on for a bit at home. In the end, I decided to stick to my time tested Asic Gel Kayano 26s.

Although it is a trail run, most of the run is along the lake which is packed dirt. There are no roots or annoyances so it is mostly level ground. My road running shoes were fine for the loop around the lake. The spur is paved roads, so the kayano felt at home on that part of the route. 

If you are debating whether to use trail shoes or not, fret not on this trail. You can certainly use regualr shoes without much of an issue on the salem lake loop. 

Water

There were a couple of places where the creek overflowed on the road. While most of the regulars ran straight through it, I can only assume they were better prepared or had shoes that could deal with getting wet and dry out relatively quickly. I did not think I wanted to run in wet shoes, and so decided to take off my socks and shoes and walk barefoot on that part. Since I use compression socks, it took a bit of time to peel those off and put them on my damp feet, and I lost approximately 4 minutes each time (twice).

This was the first time I encountered such a situation, and I definitely would like to think and plan better the  next time. If that means trying to get the right footwear that will dry off quickly, then I simply need to get that sorted so I can do similar trail runs going forward. 

Weather

Couldn't have planned a better day than today. 49 when  it started and not windy. It warmed up as the day went by, but go no hotter than 67 by the time I was done with the race. 

Swag

A finisher medal and an absolutely fantastic fitting full sleeves tech t-shirt. I had planned to wear a hoodie shirt, but since the day was warmer than I anticipated, I ran in the race t-shirt. That worked well for me. 

There was Radar Brewing company pouring three different draft beers on the Marina porch after the race. The Oktoberfest was just what I needed to cool off, and the tangerine wit bier was good too.