on the trail

So yes, I survived the 15k trail run yesterday. In fact I felt pretty great for the first 10k. I just kind of held it together for the last 5. I had been worried that I wouldn't be ready for the hills and I wasn't... well not for that distance. It was pretty much all uphill to the finish line--brutal! (the longest two kilometres ever). I was so done when I crossed the finish line! Before the race I had worried about mud and loose rock and running on that kind of technical surface, and as I walked in to the starting line on the mucky trail my fears grew. But it was totally fine. I actually loved the challenge of rocks and mud. My finish time was 2 hours, which is what I expected. Next time will be better.

It was a totally new experience for me not just because it was a trail race, but because I went all by myself. It was just super inconvenient to get the whole family up at 4:30AM, and then have them hang around at the finish line (in the mud) waiting for me--inconvenient and selfish. So I got on the bus at 5:00, not knowing a soul, to go to a race that frankly, scared me. (You might say I was a little outside my comfort zone.) I missed them, but it was totally fine and kind of satisfying too.

My new trail shoes are definitely broken in now!