Clinton Trail Run

I didn't bring my good ol' Nike faux garmin with me to track my time and mileage for the Clinton Preserve Trail Run. I figured it was trails, it would be hell and as long as I had an estimate of the mileage I just didn't care about my time. This was my first trail run since February when I first tried to run with the Rogues (the worst run of my life). At that time I just didn't have the endurance to run it. Now that Ive been training regularly i felt confident to take on a trail. I met with the Rogues on Tuesday at the Clinton Nature Preserve. It was rather cool as it had old houses and barns kind of sitting in the middle of no where falling a part. Being a (former) history buff it was visually stimulating. Ok, besides the view it was tough. Its started out nice, I think I had a good pace then BAM there was the hill from hell. Being a noob I went to run up that brat and of course was winded. Luckily my friend Miranda told me to slow my roll and kinda guided me up to the top. So the first hill was bearable but then there was a second and I won't lie I don't know if it was asthma or maybe my lungs just aren't built for it yet but I couldn't catch my breath. Once we got to the top I HAD to walk. Man, I wish I had a camera to take a photo of those hills. Anyway, I told Miranda to go on and hung back for another runner who was not to far behind me. Let me tell you she was an interesting lady! She started out slow when I met up with her but gradually went into what I call ass kicking mode. What I found intriguing is she ran some many Marathons that she just doesn't know how many she ran anymore. WOW. At this point, I can tell you how many miles I have ran to the day. Right there I felt like you could tell she was is in it for her, the race didn't matter but the experience. Pretty impressive I must say. So I ended up jogging back with her. I felt like we were running supper fast on our way back and I don't recall running down those hills from hell. But wow did it get dark fast. It was so interesting to be running and all of a sudden you run through a thick patch of woods and it was super dark then you come out and there is dusk. (Remember I'm new to this!) The run over all was OK. I wont lie I was super tense doing it I was so afraid of twisting my ankle more then anything. But once we finished I felt great and again was not out of breath. I actually thought of doing some laps around the small track outside of the trail but figured I would be cautious since Lord knows how my body would react to such a different type of run. I wont lie it wasn't my thing BUT I think I am going to try to do a trail run ie Trib or Clinton at least twice a month to start conditioning my body. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience and when I woke up I had a hard time walking AND my abs were on fire. I personally consider that good training and now I know I need to work on my core and some other spots to make the next trail run more enjoyable.

Oh I dont want to froget to mention I may not have been that sweaty or out of breath at the END of the run but O-M-G I was starving when I got home. I mean I ate almost half a staufers lasagna. Yikes!