Running

We have been participating in a few races the last few weeks.  The first one we did was the Smithfield Health Days Race.  The kids and Russell ran the one mile course while I did the 10K.

Everyone had a great race and shaved more time off of their previous bests.  Emily ran her mile in 8:58.  Colby also got a PR at 8:08.  Logan and Dad were not far behind with a time of 9:14.  They all did an amazing job!  They are getting so fast!!

I ran the 10K and this was one of my first races since getting back into running.  The course was really rough for the first three miles because it was all up hill.  Then it got much better as we hit the turnaround spot because then it was all down hill.  I made up a lot of time after that.  I was able to finish the 10K in 53:58.  It felt good to race.  Colby even ran the last 25 yard with me to the finish line!

Because we all did a great job, we got medals!

Logan and Colby both placed second in their age divisions.  Emily placed fifth in her age.  I was able to come home with a third place in my age division.  I was really surprised at that and had no idea until they called my name!  Good job everyone!

The next race I did was the 16 Crossing Trail Run.  I have never done a trail run before so I was kind of scared to sign up for this race.  I did though because I needed an 11-12 mile run for my marathon training and this seemed like a fun way to get the miles in.  This was an 11 mile trail course up the canyon in Smithfield.

The trail crossed the river 16 times so not only did I run but there was quite a bit of wading too. It was so cold! The elevation change was over 2,000 feet and there was snow at the top. This was my first ever trail run and it was so fun and so much of a learning experience because trail is quite different from road.  The trail up was quite hard because it was 5 miles straight up. I actually walked a bit of it.  The trail down was much easier and I made up a lot of time.  

I even got a battle wound! When I was crossing the river during one of the 16 crossings, a stick attacked me and stabbed me in the leg.  Luckily my leg was numb from the ice cold river so I didn't feel the pain.  I do have a nice scar on my leg now.  Trail running is fun because I felt like a deer running through the forest.  You do run slower on trails because you are trying to avoid rocks, sticks, and ruts but the scenery is amazing.  I was able to run this 11 mile trail in 1:54. 

We love running as a family.