Paleozoic 25K & future races

Things have been crazy around these parts lately! I wasn't home at all last week, so I apologize for the lack of updates. Anyways, yesterday was a fun but exhausting day. I ran my first trail run!! I have been training on the trail for over a year, but have never done a trail run. It was an intense experience.FOR.SURE! It was rainy/snowy a lot this week, so I knew the conditions of the trail would be rough, actually the official website for the race said that it would be "challening" after going over the route Friday night. It was EXTREMELY muddy, I even heard my friend running at one point b/c the mud was so thick!! It was also snowy/icy at some parts & there was even standing water here & there too. Our feet were definitely wet & muddy! These are my feet, they were muddy THROUGH my socks & shoes. GROSS!

The best part of trail runs are the aid stations. We went through 3 and folks, there is CANDY at the aid stations!! At some longer runs they even have pop along with the standard gatoraid & water. I definitely took the M&Ms & gummy hearts at each aid station LOL If you can't eat candy when you're running, when CAN you eat candy?! 

This was the inaugural race, so there were some kinks to iron out. One of the most glaring is that the trail was not properly marked all along the way. At one point my friend & I came to a fork in the trail, we were about to turn left, when a whole group of people came from that way saying they were 60% sure we needed to be going the other way! lol So we followed the group, not even knowing if they were right or not, but the chance seemed to be in our favor ;) My friend & I ended up cutting of 2 miles from our run though. There was a "back" 5 miles that we were supposed to run, and at another fork in the trail we started going left when we saw flags to the right. We had been told the trail would be marked with orange flags, which we saw to the right, so we ended up going right instead of left & cut off a couple miles from the run!! But we are proud of our awesome run & good finish :)

I have to say, now that it's over, I'm sad we lost those miles, but at the time, I was totally fine not doing them LOL It was a hard race, the trail was yucky & muddy, it was cold & there were a lot more hills than I was used to. When we ended up shorter than we were supposed to, I was OK with being done lol I definitely had a good experience though & I could see a trail run being really nice in the fall, when the weather is a little better. I was delighted by the aid stations & I LOVED the small atmosphere of the race along with the friendly people. I made a few friends standing in line for the porta potty LOL It was really cool & I'm glad that I did it!! I'll have to do a few more trail runs this year for sure.

Next up, I am going down to Kentucky for a half-marathon. I am planning on going down with my sister & staying our older sister. I am excited for the race b/c part of it on the Kentucky Derby race track! SO fun, right?! Then I found a marathon in May that I still need to register for & I have another half-marathon coming up in June. I'm excited to be busy & keep up running and working out. I always need a reason to keep doing it, so I like to register for as many races as possible :)

Updates!

There have been a few changes around these parts. I have to admit, I am not doing the Whole30 Challenge anymore. I had an epic fail Saturday night & ate some pizza when we were out as a family. I tried to get back in the saddle on Sunday, but we had a birthday party and I quickly realized how many birthday parties/baby showers/celebrations I had in March and how difficult it would be to stay on the Whole30 for the whole month. I KNOW I could do it, but is it worth it?? I believe in the challenge & I LOVED the results I got from doing it in January. The thing is, I was super stressed about it this time around & was having a hard time with cravings, I didn't want to spend the whole month feeling that way. I am more interested in keeping my eating clean when NOT on the challenge, when I am left to my own devices and have the liberty to eat whatever I want. I want to CHOOSE to eat clean & prove to myself that I can do it even when I'm not following the Whole30 program. SO- there you have it folks. I am spreading my wings & trying to do it on my own.

Other than that, I have a race on Saturday. It's my first 25K (15.3 miles!) & it's a trail race. My running buddies & I generally train on the Des Plaines River Trail, but I think the one we are racing on has more hills. EEP! I'm nervous about the terrain. I am excited to try something new though. All of my previous races have been road races, so this one will be a whole new experience. I do have to say, the closer it gets, the more nervous I get. I am nervous about the weather holding out, we seem to have a lot of flurries & rain in our future and I am worried that the trail will be miserable. I am sure it will be dirty, hopefully not crazy muddy though. This will be the longest race I have ever run, I'm just glad that I'm doing it with my running buddies, I will have support & good conversation. Plus, I know that when I do something new & prove to myself that I can do it, I feel awesome. I really hope to have a successful race on Saturday!!

I need something to boost my morale. I've been feeling low lately. I am just really hoping to find my niche in the fitness world soon. It's too soon for me to be looking for a job, since none of my kids are really in school yet & I don't even WANT to work until they're all in school. However, I feel stuck. I feel like I'm not really moving ahead in any area. I would love to somehow learn more & become a part of something bigger. If you think of it, please keep me in your prayers, I am waiting for God's timing & leading in my life, but it is hard to wait & I am losing heart while I wait.