Cross Country 5k

This weekend I ran in a charity 5k. It was the race for Nicaragua. It was a small race, just 47 people. This race marked some more firsts for me. This was my first race in sunny weather and it was beautiful. It was also my first race with such a small group of people. Most importantly it was my first race on trails. I've learned that I'm not a fan of running in the woods. On the pro side the race went by a lot faster. Since I was focused on the trail (jumping over roots and rocks, running over streams and dodging trees. It was nice that it went by fast but on the negative side it really slowed me down. You just can't run as fast when you have a rock to jump over or a hill that is muddy. That was frustrating to lose my momentum and so that was one thing that slowed me down. I also got stuck behind people and the trail usually wasn't wide enough to pass. At least the woods kept me distracted from the hills and every time I started to get tired I just imagined a bear was chasing me :)

Even though this type of running was all new for me, the weather was perfect and it was dry and I still did pretty well. I got 25th place and finished in 35 min 27sec, not bad for cross country style running. I'm smiling in that picture but I was tired and ready to be done. The hill at the end was crazy...why do races always have to end on a hill? I don't think anyone after running any distance thinks "you know I hope after running x amount of miles I want to climb a hill! Mike was yelling at me to smile though so I did :)

Even though I didn't place, I did win a raffle prize. A gift card to Zaxby's ...not bad :)

I also had a great support team. My boys came to cheer me on. I hadn't ever had Daniel at one of my races so it was fun to finish and have him there as well as Mike. They're the best!

Aren't they cute!!!!