Trail Running is Hard

Today Joan convinced me to go trail running out in Ridley State Park for the Media Mud Stain run. 5 miles through the woods on a gorgeous day, so what's not to like (except the running part). Let me preface this by saying I'm not a runner, hate it and I believe you should only run when someone else much bigger is chasing you. But, I don't get to see Joan that often due to her crazy work schedule at the large animal hospital (veternarian) so I relented and decided to join her.

Some of her friends from the hospital joined us and we got ready and started. Joan and I ran a leisurely pace for the start and then we got to some hills which absolutely drained me. The trail was lovely, but it was much harder than I anticipated. I had a nagging cough throughout most of the race, likely from riding the day before with my mouth gaping open like a dog. Oh, did I mention that I rode 45 miles the day before and I'm tired and sore from that? No wonder I was feeling like total dog shit for the last 2 miles. My leg muscles were very pissed and my chest was pretty tight. Maybe I should do some more running for conditioning purposes cuz this is kinda pathetic.

I made it across the finish like in a blistering 1:03 and placed 124 out of 133. Joan's friend Jess placed 2nd in her age group - yay! We ended our day with some brunch and mimosas and I headed back home for some quality time on the couch. Would I do it again? Probably,but I might do soe running in the days leading up to it and get proper trail running shoes.