Trails

I joined my friends Eric, Pam, Josephine, Julie and Kendra early Monday morning to run trails. We started running at 6:30 a.m. We ran early so that everyone could celebrate Memorial Day with their families. With everyone covered from head-to-toe with mosquito repellent, we were off.

I bought a CamelBak Octane 18X hydration pack while in Boston. I bought it to use when I run my ultras later this year. I wore it Monday while running the trails because I want to train with it. I will be carrying it with me for 5-7 hours, I need to prepare for that. Everyone was asking me about it. They asked if it was heavy: not really. They asked if it was hurting my back: it didn't. I really like the pack. It is easy to reach items in the pockets and I really love the water tube. I love how I can grab it, suck on the end of the PureFlow tube and get a drink. No bottles to open or lose trying to put it back on a belt.

The trails were really fun. Even though my legs were a little tired from Sunday's half marathon, I did as best as I could. During the run, I incorporated the run/walk method for the first time. Usually I try to run the entire time, but I decided to save my legs and walk up the bigger hills. Walking is something I know I will be doing during my ultras, might as well start practicing now. Walking up the hills really did help my legs. If I ran up all of those hills, I doubt that I would have ran 11 miles.

At the end of the run, Eric told me I did a great job on the trails. Especially with just running a half marathon the day before. He said it was good to run on tired legs to train for the ultras. I hope to hit the trails with the group again soon. It was fun to run with other people that are also training for upcoming ultras.