Hi there and Happy Sunday!

I slogged through a trail 10k yesterday morning and my victory was that I didn’t quit. I ran the Wolfe’s Run Trail 10K, the third and final race in a “triple crown” series held by Complete Race Solutions here on Staten Island.

not my finest race photo but it was free and that’s always a plus. It also clearly shows that this wasn’t easy for me and that means I was working hard and that means I give myself a pat on the back. Go me!

The funny thing is that last year I ran the first two races of the series but got injured before the third so I missed out on getting my last interlocking finisher’s medal.

Last year’s 2 interlocking medals

And yesterday I got that 3rd piece but it is a totally different design for 2018 than it was for 2017 so no bueno. But even so, I still feel complete now anway. HA!

this year’s missing piece

The weather was ridiculously warm. It was in the mid 70s by 10am when the race started and my body has barely had time to acclimate to running again let alone acclimate to the warm temps.

The course was set up as two 5k loops. I kid you not that I was ready to go home after that first loop and it was so hard to talk myself into going the distance.

I finished in 1 hour and 24 minutes and honestly I don’t even care what the finish time was. I’m just happy to have completed my first race of the year.

My feet are pretty banged up. I have blisters everywhere. And there were plenty of rocks and Sweetgum tree balls that irritated my poor toes.

running over the sweetgum balls….ouchie!

The course had a nice mix of terrain including about 150 feet on the beach, some multiuse paths and then some technical trails through the woods.

running on the beach

I had to walk a whole lot. The first 5k I only walked on the inclines and on the beach until I got to the wet sand. But the second 5k? I walked some downhills too. I was THAT tired.

I’m at the far left. This was the first mile before everyone smoked me and before I totally melted in the sun 🙂

There was this one moment when I realized that I hadn’t needed to look at any of the trail markers because there was always someone in front of me but by the second 5k there was no one in front of me and that meant getting to know those little orange ribbons and yellow arrow signs in the ground real well. Hey, at least I didn’t get lost!

I enjoy the races that that Complete Race Solutions puts on for so many reasons. They’re soooo enthusiastic about what they do. They take a lot of time crafting the courses and the same group of runners seem to attend each event so I like to see familiar faces even if I only know one or two really. I love that the races are all just a few minutes from home and in parks that I frequent regularly anyway. This particular park is about 1/2 mile away from my old high school and where I’d hang out all the time with my friends. It’s also the same park that has the dog park that I used to take Duncan to daily when he was a lot younger.

I’m secretly wanting to run the NJ Half in 2 weeks but I know I won’t be ready. So my next race will be in about 6 weeks when I run the Spring Lake 5 miler. I’m hoping to get stronger in the next 6 weeks. But hope is where I’ll leave it. 🙂

In non-running news Duncan is still doing the usual….

like a siamese twin.

morning nap in the warmth of the sunshine

And I’m trying not to cut myself as much at work but that’s not going so well. I usually have 3 bandaged fingers by the week’s end. LOL. It’s not just the blade that I cut myself with. The edges of the backing paper to the adhesive vinyl are so sharp I’ve ended up with paper cuts that are so deep. The thumb is my most recent self-inflicted wound.

So what have you been up to? Anyone running Boston tomorrow?
Do you prefer running in the heat or in the cold? Signed up for any races?

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