26.2 On A Trail!

We did it! Jake and I ran and managed to finish the MidMountain Trail Marathon in Park City. There is a trail that goes from Deer Valley all the way across and down to the Canyons. Its a single track trail and beautiful. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Let me tell you though, a trail marathon is a whole different beast. I knew it would be harder than a road marathon, but I didn't think it would be that much harder. Holy cow. Constant up and down, rocks, tree roots, mud, etc. I know it was beautiful, but I couldn't enjoy it much because I had to constantly watch the trail and the person in front of me to keep from killing myself. I did see a couple of people actually hit the ground. Apparently not uncommon in a trail race. The last few miles of the race were good downhill, which I looked forward to. However, by then my legs were so tired that the downhill was actually pretty challenging. It was all I could do to hold myself up. I was really careful not to trip, because I knew if I did at that point my legs wouldn't be able to catch me.

I finished almost an hour over my road marathon pace, if that tells you anything. I finished in 4:35. Jake finished later, but I was just glad he made it. He's hasn't had time to train much and he keeps having knee problems. He did manage to finish all of the Triple Trails races and get the super cool jacket. So worth it, I guess:)

What I learned: People who do hundred mile trail runs are more amazing than I ever realized. And crazy. Trail running requires some major leg muscle, so lifting weights would definitely be beneficial to training. Trail running is definitely less monotonous than road running, but a lot harder. And I am not one of those people who can do a marathon every few months. Usually I enjoy the first part of my marathons and then grind out the end. This time, right from the beginning I wondered why I was doing this again. My brain was yelling at me along with my body. "Why are you doing this to me again??!!!"

Moral of this story: Marathons are hard. Trail marathons are even harder. But I did it. I can do hard things, and I like that...