A weekend of no pressure trail runs...

What a great weekend! Started out on Friday night with a bunch of Whole Running girls at my house for a casual get together. We talked about our reasons for running, struggles and how we get out of them, fueling, etc. I really enjoyed hearing every ones stories. I'm sure this accounts to most people, but for me I am constantly learning about myself through mistakes, through friends, through different circumstances which make me who I am today. And tying this into running....it is always neat to see where we have come from. It makes me admire these ladies that much more. And to top it off...while we still are working on ourselves, we have little ones who we work on as well (and some of us, many little ones!).





Saturday I had a most adventurous run in an unbelievable trail - much more challenging than the Virgil Mountain one which I so adore! And how wonderful it is to get off the beaten path...so many hours of up and downs, crossing streams, hoping roots, running down switch backs, mud...all good for building strength and exercising the eyes to a new place. And while I was running I sent lots of thoughts to Annette Bednosky who was running Mad City 100k and I must add, ROCKIN IT TOO! So awesome to know that she did great. I know she does the same for me (if we aren't in the same race, ha!) when I am out there too!



Sunday, Green Lakes - the lovely loops which I know so well. Feeling good - my legs know this trail and know how to work it. After Saturday's run, GL felt that much easier to tackle -sore quads and all!



On both of my runs, I tested out two different shoes - Rockridge and Mountain Masochist - both wonderful and easy to run with on trails, great support, flexibility, able to handle the mud, rocks, roots, etc. I also tested out my Nathan Hydration Pack made for women. Loved it. I love the front pockets which store my stuff as well as the pack being customized for women. One thing to note, make sure you are hydrating enough since there is no way to actually see how much you are drinking - three big sips for me equals roughly 5 ounces.



This weekend, with as much running as I did, there was no pressure and much peace and passion. As I always say and still try to live by...step outside of your comfort zone - do something different, listen to different stories...all the growth will make you stronger and appreciate that much more what you have when you have it.

This week...one more week of slamming out the miles, and then its back to taper!