Greetings. Well, it's time to get back to updating my blog. On Sunday, I ran my first ever trail running race. It was a total blast. Although I'd ridden a hard 80 miles the day before, I thought this would be a good test for me to see how my training is coming along. I'll be doing a total of 3 trail running races this spring which will hopefully increase my running economy and speed for later in the year. Running long distances at a sustained pace has been my weak spot the last few years, so I'm looking forward to pushing myself to another level. I've been getting in about 30-35 miles a week along with my swimming and cycling which is far more mileage than I've put up in the past.
As for the race, it was made all the more interesting by the overnight and early morning rain showers which led to some really muddy situations. I felt like a kid again running through the woods. I must say, the time went by very fast unlike a road race where it seems never ending.
I managed to get through it safely without turning an ankle or getting injured. The course was pretty brutal with 3 pretty substantial climbs where I was red lining it. I ended up finishing 11th overall, so I was very pleased with the effort. More importantly, I was mentally able to push through a few rough spots without stopping to walk.
Here's a few pics of the day:
