Who would have thought Louisiana had trails like these?! On Jan 6, 2024 I competed in the 27-mile Wild Azalia Race in the Kisatchie National Forest outside of Alexandria, LA. Jake and I made a short weekend out of it, and he did the half marathon. Overall, the experience was great, and we were both so happy we signed up.
Hotel Rewards and the General
We packed up Friday evening, the night before the race, and drove 90 minutes south just past Alexandria. Shoutout to Jake who came in clutch with the hotel rewards points. That got us a nice little room at a La Quinta that as about 20 minute from the race start line. Of course its was pet friendly so adorable little Ringo could join us.
Our original plan was to camp the night before the race in the Kisatchie National Forest in the van, but because of our departure timeline and the fact that it rained for nearly the entire day on Friday, we figured we might run into more obstacles finding the campsite in the dark and potentially having to drive through mud, than if we just stayed at a hotel and finished our drive race morning.
We had to make an emergency pit stop at a Dollar General 5 minutes before it closed because I realized I had no hair ties.. oops. Took the opportunity to stock up on some water, snacks, and some produce?!? We didn’t realized Dollar General had fruit and veggies, but this one did so we grabbed some oranges (which I devoured after the race).
Once we found the start, we picked up our bibs and got Ringo all situated in the van. Jake started a little later than me, so he was able to take his time a little bit more. I was able to take a short nap on the way to the start line – I know sounds weird, but we actually had to take a big bus to the start because the 27-miler was point to point. I swear we drove for 30 minutes, but we finally pulled up to a small parking lot where the race began. It followed a road for a little under 2 miles before cutting onto the Wild Azalia Trail.
Straight Bussin’ to the Start
I loved the terrain, scenery and flow of the race. The trail never got boring, and the temperature ended up feeling perfect throughout. My under-training caught up to me BAD at around 15/16 miles. I felt relatively strong and smooth up until then, and then I really began to feel it in my muscles. Because the race was not super competitive, I struggled to stay very engaged mentally. I held 3rd place through about 15 miles and got passed by an older man. Without being dramatic, I mentally crumbled. My legs hurt, my butt locked up, and I had just lost 3rd place. For about a mile, I sulked and started telling myself “whatever who cares you weren’t ready for this race anyways… maybe if you’d have actually trained you’d be in a better spot… there aren’t any girls even close to you so who cares if guys beat you”. After about a mile of Debby downer mentality, I remembered the podcast that my best friend Emily sent me, where Courtney Dauwalter talks about her relationship with the pain cave, aka when it really starts hurtin’. To her, the race is with herself way more than it is her competitors. She looks as at every race as an opportunity to unlock a new level of strength, resiliency and experience as a runner.
Exploring the Pain Cave
I came up to an aid station, chugged gatorade and ate a quarter PBJ sandwich. And literally out loud I said, “Girl, you are in the pain cave and it’s time to go exploring.” With about 9/10 miles left to go, I realized it was time to really see what I had left in the tank, and I turned it on. Cranked some music on my phone which I realized had dropped to 4%. Said a little prayer that my low battery mode would come through for me and I got to work. It hurt SO GOOD. I ended up catching #3 and #2 and finished the race 2nd. I celebrated with the biggest and best baked potato I had ever seen. Jake celebrated his 3rd place finish with some (I’m assuming) delish homemade jambalaya.
Race, Relax & Return to the Bayou
After snacking, hanging with Ringo, and watching some of the other race finishers, we started our journey back to Monroe. Jake stopped for a smoothie. I got a HUGE coffee from McDonalds (I actually love McDonald’s coffee; it’s gotten so tasty over the years! Shoutout to their Colombia roast). I could not wait for a coffee; I started thinking about it 3 miles to the finish. A hot cup of coffee is the most perfect way to finish a chilly long run or race. Nobody can convince me otherwise.
Super thankful for the opportunity to explore Kasatchie and excited for next race opportunity to tune up for!
