[running: Trail Blazing.]

So .., I'm still away.  The sun is glorious, the family time has been incredible - the shopping not half bad either *wink* - and running ... well - I've run close to every day since I've been here.

That's kind of a strange thing ... but with such incredible weather, it's all I want to do first thing in the morning.  When I'm at home, the rain and cold can defeat me.  Here ... outside beckons me.

I've been running 5km mostly ... so no really looong runs.  And I've been switching runners with my new Nike Airs - and doing what they recommend ... short runs in those for now.  But today ... today was different.

We're here with some friends ... and it's almost comical how much my hubby is like my friend, and how much her hubby is like me.  NR's hubby is a runner too ... and he's 6.2" tall with long legs.   I'm not 6.2". Close, but not quite *wink*.   I've never run with him.  He could jog to my sprint, probably ... I haven't tried.  

ANYways, JR wanted to check out some of the terrain around where we're staying.  "Sure," I said.  And we headed out this morning and found the perfect spot.  I brought my IPhone to document the time/distance ... and to take pics *grin*.

Oh, come on ... you KNEW I would!

The trial started out going up.  My calves were burning within minutes.  Then, we had to climb over shale rock.  

"Um.  JR,"  I said.  "This isn't a run.  This is a hike ... "

"I know!!! Isn't it GREAT???"  he smiled.

Ugh.

We could see the church below ... we had parked in the parking lot.  A pretty famous church.  Ever heard of Tommy Barnett?   Yeah.  His church ... seats 4500.  But I'll get to that later ... 

When we got to the first peak - it was incredible.  But we were far from done.  "Let's head over there," he said.

Um.  OK ... gimme a sec.  I'm taking a pic ... 

I've never done trail running.  And again - it really wasn't RUNNING.  My heart was pounding, though.  My legs were burning ... all while holding my IPhone.

So silly. 

I will say, that part of the reason I was behind JR was because I really was busy snapping pics *grin*.  How could I not?  ... and I think that I caught a pretty cool shot of him at the other peak ... 

And then he snapped a few of me ...

 

So.  That was our warm up.  The next plan was to head down - without spraining an ankle or sliding down on my butt - and then take some trails around ...

So this is where the running happened.  And it was really, really awesome.  I loved it ... no music playing, just being aware of the outdoors, enjoying the heat, concentrating on my footing ... exploring a place I'd never been before.

Without sounding hyper-dramatic, it truly felt great to be alive. 

And we headed back to the church to the parking lot ... we sprinted - full tilt - to the front of the church, stretched and I checked our stats on my running app.  We had gone 2.56km and over 150meters in elevation.  Our time was weak - a lot of chatting and pic taking - so it was about 35minutes.

After we cooled down a bit, we headed into the church.  And we happened to get let in by a nice lady who had seen us sprint in the parking lot - and as we entered, we realized we were on the stage.  4500 seats, three levels and balconies ... and the lady said, "would you like me to turn on a few lights?"

Um.  Yes??

Lights came on.  We stood there, sweaty and gross ... on Tommy Barrnett's stage.

How awesome is that? *GRIN*

So ... that's my story of my first trail run.  And I really, really liked it.  I'm sore now, but want to do it again tomorrow ... we're heading home on Friday.  Not much time left, and I'm a little sad that we didn't do this earlier ... 

Now ... to find a friend to trail run with back at home?  

Have a great one :-)!!!