My First Trail Run

Today I participated in my first trail run. During 2014, I have been participating in a Racing Grand Prix in a small town about an hour from my home. I have enjoyed participating in the Grand Prix because it has taken me out of my 5k comfort zone, and required me to participate in a variety of races. Today the Grand Prix run was Run for Ella 5k Trail Run.

This run was a BEAST!! And I LOVED it. I wouldn't want to run trail runs on a regular basis, because I am just too clumsy for that, but this race was a ton of fun. Because of the stress of the week, and my lack of running during the week (and lack of trail training) my only goal was to finish and have fun. About half way into the run I was praying for some flat trails, the hills were KILLER, but that didn't happen until the last tenth of a mile. I honestly don't know what I was expecting this run to be. I guess I was thinking more of a  scenic little muddy path in the woods, but this BEAST was constant hills, rocks, and roots. At one point, I had to use a tree branch to pull myself up a steep hill. It has been drizzly most of the morning so it was a bit muddy and slippery. We also had a temp drop today of about 20 degrees (so thankful).

The official results haven't been posted yet, but I think it took me about 50 minutes to complete it and I was stoked with that because of the difficulty. Most of all, I am just proud of myself for getting up (at 4:30) and getting this run DONE. I have three more runs left in the Grand Prix including a 5 miler next week. I am ready to knock it out!!