Recovering, Running and Losing!

Dads surgery went well and he is doing great! He was released from the hospital on Thursday and is at home now doing better than he did after the first surgery! He amazes me and I think of him often during runs when I'm breathing hard and I think - my dad has to go through the rest of his life without two lobes of his lungs. Modern medicine is an amazing thing!

Speaking of runs - I did my first trail race! I signed up for The Dirty Little Secret Trail race sometime ago and I completely forgot about it! I got distracted with my surgery then my dads and it wasn't until I got an email reminder about the race coming up that I remembered! How embarrassing!

My friend Dasie and I both did it (she did the long course 10.2 miles and I did the short course 5.8 miles) She started before me and then I waited for my start time. I was sunny - but windy and cold at the start line but I knew once I got running I would warm up! they made announcements about possible snakes on the trail, the creek crossing and that if "nature called" that we should leave our water bottle on the trail so the sweepers would know we were out on the trail still. Things that road runners don't usually have to worry about!

Dasie and I at the start line! Right after this pic I ran back to the car and grabbed my long sleeve running fleece - it was cold and very gusty!
Dasie took this pic along the trail - I decided before the race that I would run without my phone and Ipod so there was no picture taking for me - On one hand I'm glad I made that decision because if I would have stopped to take pics I wouldn't have made my time goal - but on the other hand I would have loved to have taken a pic of the creek crossing and the hill on the other side of the creek! It was so beautiful out there! I did take in some of the scenery, but I was working so hard on my footing and watching out for the snakes and poison oak they mentioned I don't think I took my eyes of the ground very much. I also really enjoyed running without my Ipod - at most times I felt like I was the only one out there - the nice thing about trail races is they are usually small and with the wave start they had I was running by myself for most of the race.

There was a very significant down hill heading towards the creek crossing and then the "creek" was about 20 steps across and really, really cold and then a really hard uphill that seemed to last forever. We had several water crossings but most of them were only two steps to get across. My feet stayed wet pretty much the entire race - just when I would think to myself that my feet were starting to dry I would approach another water crossing. The last water crossing only one foot got wet so the last mile was with one squishy shoe and one non-squishy shoe. Interesting feeling. I learned to appreciate trail shoes that drain well and the part wool trail socks that were recommended to me - no blisters!

My shoes!
Speaking of last mile - I did a really good job of fueling at the right time and conserving my energy at the race - I passed 6 people in the last mile - including a guy! I kept coming up behind him and he was walking and as I approached he would run ahead but then walk again. He did that four times and the 5th time I approached him he stepped off the single track trail and let me run past him!

Me and Dasie at the finish line! - I took off my blue fleece around the middle of the race, but then had to put it back on after I finished.
This race and a run I had on Wednesday is the first time since my surgery that I have been running any distance again and I feel great! Still just a little puffy but that will go away in time...

Last but not least - weigh in! I lost 1.8 this week!

I'm looking forward to getting back to the gym this week and getting some good workouts in!