Sunday, April 15, 2012

My Anywhere 5k (Trail version)


What a glorious weekend!

On Saturday, Lester and I went out for a 5 mile mountain biking ride. I think I have finally gotten past the bitching and moaning part of it. The ride towards the end just got fun and I didn't want it to end. Our legs disagreed!

On Sunday I got up to a text from Tabitha and Bonnie both saying they wouldn't be able to make the Steven's Trail (unpopular side) run because one threw out their back and the other blew out her knee on a Saturday hike.

We decided to postpone that run and go out on a run closer to home that wouldn't be an all dayer.
Alyx and Shea met me early in the morning so I could go out to Run Rocklin to cheer on my friend Birdie on her first 5k. Birdie signed up with her church and wanted me to run it, I told her, "That was my first 5k last year...it was...uninteresting." I'm just not a street runner and usually only street run to add miles on during the week. I did one last year for the memorial run for 9/11 and it was downtown and since I get lost in a paper bag, it felt like I had no idea where I was so it wasn't so bad.



After we left the Rocklin Run we headed out to this trail that I am going to be running next month. This was the run that I ended up tacking 20 miles onto a planned 5 mile run because we got really lost. We started in Auburn and nearly ended up at Cronan, through Cool and back to Auburn. This 10k winds through some of the same area so I kept my eye out for something that looked familiar.
I took off from Dan and the kids to get my legs nice and warmed up and I never stopped.
There was this lovely fork in the road and I walked around to keep my legs going until the girls made their way back to me.

They tried to slow me down by walking really slow on the single track, but I dove to the side and worked around them to take the lead again.

As we neared this downhill portion I could hear the creek. I knew the hill going up was a doozy, but I didn't expect that the river would be so wide and fast flowing.

I grabbed Shea and carried her across so she wouldn't get her feet wet and Dan tossed Alyx on her back and carried her. Going up, I took off my shirt and put it around my waste and pulled them up. This will be a great motivator next month when I am battling that hill, I can say, "The last time I did this, I was pulling up two teenagers!"

In the book Born To Run, the runner talks about how he will walk up hills that he can't see the top of. I started to take that advice, but I felt like I needed to run, so I did.


At the end of the run and I could see the other hill that would spit us out at the school, I was bummed. I threw my hands up in the air, grateful to God that I was able to do so well even running through the calf pain.
"I could run this again!" I yelled back to Dan. He replied, "Me too, just not today." The girls said, "never again."

I'm finally getting stronger, the hills are my friends again, I love the pain I get when I am out there. It's taken awhile but 2012 is starting to get better for me as a trail runner.

I ran my Anywhere 5k and beat my time from last month and puts me at 97 miles barefoot running.

This week starts week 4 of training and I am SO ready to hit the trail with Tabitha this week!

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