5 Mile Bridle Trails Run

It is raining and Lenna is back to 2 naps a day so I have plenty of time to do my normal chores but instead I am going to forget the chores and blog =). Below is my friend Lindsey who is super awesome. She is a runner through and through. I am a person who likes to do random things. So when Lindsey asked if I wanted to do a 5 mile race because it was in her words "a cheap race" I said yes. I had never run a 5 mile race, but I figured I probably could do it. We both signed up and here were are all smiles before the race.Due to my inability to not have a plan or a schedule we arrived with plenty of time to just hang out and wait for the race to begin. We found a spot on a fence and waited. More and more people showed up and we couldn't figure out where the race went to or where it even began. Lindsey kept asking random people if they had ever done this race before. We met a few nice people but they had never run this race, so we ran the race having no clue about the course.

In addition to Lindsey being outgoing and asking people about the race I learned a new fact about her that she likes to look at people's shoes. She kept commenting on people wearing trail shoes. At that moment something clicked in my mind that this was a "trail" race and not a normal race. Why it didn't click before I don't know. I knew we were running on horse trails, but it didn't click to me it would different then any other type of race. Anyway when it clicked in my mind I was kind of bummed that I didn't wear my trail running shoes that I hardly ever wear but have had for many years. Next time I will put those shoes to good use! I then also started to think hmmm trail racing I wonder how much harder this is going to be compared to running around Greenlake. I know I probably should have figured this out before I signed up for the race; oh well.

The picture below is of two random guys but if you look closely in between them you will see people you know!I remember talking to my mom the day after the race telling her I really enjoyed trail running and that I might try to do more of it especially once I am done having kids and don't have to deal with strollers. My mom laughed at me and reminded me I hate the outdoors. She is right, I won't deny that, but I told her I don't mind trail running if it is a trail that is surround by a city. Such is the park we raced at. You can see the course map below. It is basically right off 405 and surrounded by Kirkland. I think these parks are kind of nifty because sometimes you can forget you are in the middle of a huge metropolitan area. The red line is the course we ran.When I finished the five miles about an hour after we started Lindsey met me at the finish line. If you ask us both about our experience it will be very different. She didn't like trail running because as I stated previously she is a runner through and through. However, trail running requires you to pay attention to your footing you can't just listen to your music and go. I loved it because the distraction of focusing where I was going totally made me forget that I was running and I was at the end before I knew it.

Here we are at the car after the race. I am pink as normal. I will thank my mom for giving me that awesome quality of turning pink in the face while working out.And finally the best picture of them all our shoes after the race. The course varied from 5' wide to 2' wide. Some parts were dry other parts were very muddy, and occasionally there was horse poop. I think I would have finished a bit faster, but there was a long stretch of the race that was just 2' wide and nothing but mud. Since I wasn't going for speed I would step off the trail and let the people running the 10mile and 50k races go past me then I would start up again. But that long 2' wide pure mud stretch sure did a number to my shoes. They were totally dirty!

I think I will do this same race again next year if I can and maybe I will look for some 10k races to see if normal races are appealing or if I just really like trail racing. Thanks Lindsey for the new experience!!!