ORCAS ISLAND – TRIPLE RIPPLE:: 5 girls. 3 day weekend.  2 trail races in one day. ONE awesome time!

My girlfriend, Susie (far right), invited us girls (from left: me, Molly, Delores, and Andrea) to her cabin on Orcas Island this past weekend for some girl time, some wine, and oh yeah – a couple of trail runs.

Susie’s cabin is right on the water with the most breathtaking views!

See for yourself:

Although the Triple Ripple is three races, two on Saturday and one Sunday, we opted to do just the two races on Saturday.  Mostly, so we could drink all we wanted Saturday night. 😉

Race one started Saturday morning at 9 am.  A fast four mile trail run (that I assumed – because Susie told me – was flat).  I ran fairly decent, but hit a wall after about mile 3.  I knew I should have eaten something earlier that morning.  I ended up running just under 32 minutes.

Here were are – soaking wet – after our first 4 miler:

In the interim, we ate an awesome breakfast cooked by Delores, we changed into dry clothes and took a nap.

Pre second run photo-op:

Run #2 was marked by a heavier rain than the morning run.  It stopped long enough just for us to nap and dry off, only to start again when our toes met the starting line.  This second trail run was a 10K distance — straight up Mt. Constitution.  Holy hills!!  I finished in about 1:16 and some change.  By the time I finished, the rain fell even harder and I felt bad for my girlfriends still on the course.  I felt so bad all the way to the car … where I sat and waited.  ha! 😉

A little rain — no big deal.  Wait, this was a lot of rain!  Still – no big deal and I’m smiling!!  I loved it and asked the girls about doing the 30K the next day.  I think a few expletive words were thrown my way.