Oh, Those Trails!

I am directionally challenged. When you are with me, don't use words like "north" or "east" to tell me where to go. Tell me to turn left at the McDonald's or drive straight for twenty minutes.

Knowing this, Marta still told me that I could run the Brandywine loop from the Boston Store. Oh, she also ran the loop once with me before she left. She has such faith in me.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I tell Marta, "Oh yeah, I got this."  Yeah.

So, I left the Boston Store, turned onto the trail to Brandywine. .  .and I made it there.  Great! Now all I needed to do was complete the loop, and THAT IS WHERE IT ALL FELL APART.  I couldn't find the turn-off to go back toward the Towpath, so I ended up running a mile-long loop back to the falls.  Then I did it again.  On the third lap, people started actively mocking me, even though I told them I MEANT to do that.

I started texting Marta (what did I think she was going to do???), I guess because it would make her laugh.  On my next lap, I turned off the trail onto an unmarked section, and I found the way back.  Whew. Now I know--lesson learned.

This week I started part of the Run with Scissors course with Tracy, Ken, and Nicole. Three miles in Tracy fell on the stairs, which were really slippery with leaves. She grabbed her wrist and said she was hurt. This reminded me of the time I broke my foot on a run; I immediately stopped and said, "I'm hurt.  I'm really hurt." I knew the difference between being scared and superficially hurt and scared and truly injured. I took off my FlipBelt and used it to prop her arm against her chest. Looks like all that Girl Scout training paid off--thanks, Mrs. Mejia! Then we walked her back to the nearest parking lot, where a fellow runner picked her and Ken up so she could go to the emergency room. Poor Tracy now has a sprained wrist.

Nicole and I powered on by running the Ledges, the Octagon, and Boston Run to get a total of ten miles. She and I had a nice long-run talk, and I managed to burn off some crazy. Thanks, Nicole!

This is EXACTLY how I look when I have just burned off some crazy. 

So, lessons learned from the trails:

1. Don't get lost. Pay attention. (Honestly, I don't know if I can follow this rule.)
2. Don't get injured. Be particularly careful around steps. (I'm already afraid of going down steps, so I will continue to be cautious.)

Are you enjoying some beautiful trails right now? Regardless of where you run, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

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Race Recap: Leave No Trace Half Marathon

After running 20 miles of the Blue Line last Saturday, it seemed like a good idea to sign up for a trail half marathon. I figured I could meander on the trails of Camp Manatoc, work some other muscles, and get in some miles at an easy pace.

Camp Manatoc is a Boy Scout camp, and once a year they open their trails for this race. It's a cool opportunity, and the trails are beautiful.

I had lots of friends at this race: both Goddesses and Mother Runners.

Goddesses: Marta made me take this picture 4 times because she thought her finger was too close to her nose.

We got a picture of all of us together:

Mother Runners + Goddesses = A Very Fun Race

It was a bit chilly; the weather app said 56 degrees, but it really felt like 46 degrees. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, and part of the race I was very glad I did, and the other part I was cursing my stupidity. It's sometimes difficult to find a happy medium.

We all started out together, and it was very cramped on the trails. Eventually the herd thinned as the speed demons passed us, and we started to hit our pace.  After a few miles, I felt like speeding up a bit, so I ran ahead to where I found Renee and Carrie at the bathroom stop, and we ran together.

The trails were awesome, and the fuel stops had ginger ale, so you know I was happy.  No GU on the trails for me--pretzels and ginger ale all the way.

At mile 11, I looked at my watch and half-turned to Renee and Carrie to announce, "We are probably going to beat 3 hours!" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I went down.  Boom.  I lay still for about 30 seconds while I decided whether I was hurt and scared or just scared. I decided that I would live, so I got up and started up again. Renee and Carrie were good enough to stay with me even though I had jinxed us.

My left elbow and my knees were feeling pretty banged up, but I didn't want to look at them because there was nothing I could do about that. We raced on and finished in 3:03.

The medal is hard-core; it weighs about a gazillion pounds.

I took a picture of my knees before I got them cleaned up at the aid station because Renee reminded me that trail-runners only have bragging rights if the wounds look bad:

Gross, right?

After the race there was a vendor village with HiHo Brewery inside the Boy Scout mess hall, but my teeth had started to chatter, and I knew that it was housecleaning day anyway, so I left the Goddesses and the Mother Runners to their beer while I returned home to scrub toilets.

I really enjoyed this race: the trails were gorgeous, the weather was perfect for running, I loved seeing so many of my friends.  This is a keeper for sure.

It is now three weeks to Akron Marathon time. I think I'm going to run at least 16 miles next weekend and then go for a proper taper.

Will I see you on the Blue Line? I hope I do. I especially hope that no matter where or how you run, you run happy, Peeps!

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