Subject: Trail racing.
Today was my first ever and last ever encounter with the art of trail racing. These people are crazy! Let me clarify the term "trail." I was thinking a nice little path through the woods... WRONG. I was thinking running on dirt and gravel... WRONG. I was thinking of killing my time... REALLY WRONG!!! This was by far the hardest race I have ever run. A few key words about the race: rocks, boulders, tree roots, slippery footing, at least a dozen and a half uphills... and by "uphill," I mean STRAIGHT up. Not a small incline... think about scaling the side of a dropoff in the woods. For me, this was not running... this was "hiking briskly," and it was extremely frustrating and nervewracking. My biggest thought during the race was that if I had just one faulty step, I could really screw up the rest of my running career... the terrain was just so uneven. I didn't take one single sure step for most of the way. My time was abominable... AND RIGHTFULLY SO! This race was F-ING HARD! I'm proud of myself for finishing it with no broken bones and only minimal cuts and scrapes... seriously!
The best part of the day aside from all the driving that I did :) was getting to see my Reach the Beach van-mate CLARE BEAR! We met up before the race, then she cheered me on (I finished 3 minutes behind her) and we chatted with a lot of cool runners- Other Reach the Beach people, Community Running people, and the girl that I ran much of the course with and finished with... then we went out to this little breakfast place called George's :) and had breakfast. It was awesome. It was so good to see CB, and it makes me really anxious to see the rest of my team at the Monson Memorial Classic half marathon in 28 days!!!
On that note, I'm gonna find some 800mg and get to bed :) Mmmm... sweet medication-induced sleep at long last!
Run on :)
Today was my first ever and last ever encounter with the art of trail racing. These people are crazy! Let me clarify the term "trail." I was thinking a nice little path through the woods... WRONG. I was thinking running on dirt and gravel... WRONG. I was thinking of killing my time... REALLY WRONG!!! This was by far the hardest race I have ever run. A few key words about the race: rocks, boulders, tree roots, slippery footing, at least a dozen and a half uphills... and by "uphill," I mean STRAIGHT up. Not a small incline... think about scaling the side of a dropoff in the woods. For me, this was not running... this was "hiking briskly," and it was extremely frustrating and nervewracking. My biggest thought during the race was that if I had just one faulty step, I could really screw up the rest of my running career... the terrain was just so uneven. I didn't take one single sure step for most of the way. My time was abominable... AND RIGHTFULLY SO! This race was F-ING HARD! I'm proud of myself for finishing it with no broken bones and only minimal cuts and scrapes... seriously!
The best part of the day aside from all the driving that I did :) was getting to see my Reach the Beach van-mate CLARE BEAR! We met up before the race, then she cheered me on (I finished 3 minutes behind her) and we chatted with a lot of cool runners- Other Reach the Beach people, Community Running people, and the girl that I ran much of the course with and finished with... then we went out to this little breakfast place called George's :) and had breakfast. It was awesome. It was so good to see CB, and it makes me really anxious to see the rest of my team at the Monson Memorial Classic half marathon in 28 days!!!
On that note, I'm gonna find some 800mg and get to bed :) Mmmm... sweet medication-induced sleep at long last!
Run on :)
