My first trail race-- WHERE I WON!

*knock knock*

Is this thing on?

My original plan was to blog a race report from my first trail race in February. Then it rained/snowed and got postponed since they didn’t want to tear up the trails. I suppose I could have blogged about other things, but my life just isn’t that interesting. I run, I work, I mom, I wife, and I love every second of it. See, now you’re caught up on my life. Oh, and here’s a picture of my kids because they are freaking adorable.

Anyway, the trail race was rescheduled for Sunday at 1:00. I’d never run a mid-day race before, and the preparation was an absolute disaster. Despite The Husband encouraging me to focus on what I needed to do, I couldn’t shut off the mom switch. (That’s what you do as parents of twins. If you’re home, you’re helping.) The boys had hidden my sunglasses during a fight, I could only locate one sock, someone wanted me to read a book, someone else had dumped out my water, I’d forgotten to eat lunch-- AHHHHH!

I finally left the house frazzled, stressed, and late. This trail race seemed like a much better idea in February when I’d signed up. I’ve never run on trails before, and I had hoped the early season date would bring out some other rookies. Based on the other previous races in the series, I knew it would be really small. (25-30 people.) “Really small” can be good or bad. Good=you might win! Bad=you might be DFL! A few of the people seemed to be geared up and legit-looking. I was not one of those people.

Everyone was organized and friendly from the start. Wild Hares Racing put on a fantastic race. I found a SUPER nice group of friends at the start. They’d asked me to take their picture, and I socially latched on as payment. I tried to keep the pre-race spazzing under control as I found comfort in chatting with a very pretty girl who was also running trails for the first time.

“Five miles, the course is marked with tape/cone, ready…set…go!”

I bounced out toward the front and tried to settle in. Three things became immediately obvious:

1. Trail running requires a tremendous amount of concentration so you don’t fall on your face.
2. Garmin doesn’t work in the woods when you’re doing a million switchbacks.
3. People are right ahead and right behind you!
4. Dear God, do I always sound like this when I breathe?! (I’d purposefully gone sans music. Seemed safer and more polite.)

It was the exact opposite of how I run on the roads. I felt naked and out of my comfort zone. Totally. I passed a few people and decided I was running at a decent pace and suddenly really enjoying myself. The race director was out on a bike, and he said some nice, encouraging things too.

There were several hills, and for the most part, I did well with footing. Only tripped once and a half. I took my time going up and down the super steep parts and over the creek since I could feel my ankles and back getting tired and unstable. Suddenly, we were .2 miles from the finish and back to civilization. (Actually, the trail park is right in the middle of town. It just winds all around a square mile area. It’s super close to my house, and I had no idea it was even there.)

Anyway, I was the female winner! WOO HOO!

Okay, there were only a handful of woman racing, but still. Weeeeeee! I was expecting a giant trophy or huge medal, but alas, an envelope full of cash would have to do.

After we cheered for the other people to finish, everyone hung around to munch on food and chat a little. Maybe it was the small numbers or maybe trail people are just like that, but these people were REALLY nice. They have some local trail groups that seem like just the thing I’m looking for this year. You see, this is The Year of Trying New Running Things. I want to make friends, run faster, break out of my comfort zone, and travel to new places.

Is trail running going to be my thing? Not sure. Maybe. It's not how I usually run, but maybe that’s a good thing? Maybe this is the change-up I need? Maybe I’ll learn to love dirt? I'm not exactly a "run through the creek" kind of girl. I do sweat; I don't do mud. But maybe I could? (Anyone that knows me is shaking their head no.)

At this point, tomorrow at 11:00 will really drive how I run and race this year. 11:00 is the NYC marathon lottery drawing. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to run this. Like, my trip is already planned in my head. Pleeeeeease random.org! If I get in, I’ll likely do three marathons this summer/fall and seek out some new running friends to break up the miles. On the off-chance (okay, the major chance) I don’t get in, I’ll do one marathon and try to get back into triathlons or possibly trail running.

Either way, race season is here, and I love it.