She Runs Half & 5K

Zombies beware… this girl can run trails! Yes… I climbed over the boulders (at the time, they felt like mountains) and ran through the woods!
She Runs was the smallest local race I’ve ran… so far! I wasn’t planning on running this race because of that fact and I loathe trail running. But, I happen to be «given» the challenge when a friend couldn’t run it due to a dreaded runner’s injury (I forgot which one she had). I’ve been told before that if you’re used to running on pavement, running on trails can be more difficult because the surface absorbs more of your energy. In other words, you’re using energy to compress the ground and you get less of it back as «bounce»; therefore, you have to put more in to go at your normal pace. Well, I found out during this race that the difficulty applied to my running life.
Lesson learned from my 13.1 trail run:
1) It is more mentally and physically demanding.
2) Due to the trail’s uneven surface, I had to use more stabilizing muscles that I don’t use much on the road. And… once my muscles got tired, my form went to crap. No wonder my entire body is hurtin’.
3) It felt like I burned twice the calories from this race than any other race.
4) The reward is definitely worth the work = more food consumption and dranks to numb the sore muscles. Ha.
Your swag includes a cool shirt & a nice «pink» medal. At the end, you are greeted with healthy goodies (bananas, grapes, oranges) & yummy goodies (cakes, muffins, cakes and cakes) and liquid replenishers (water and gatorade — what no beer?!). I normally crave healthy snacks after a long run, but I exhausted all calories during this race. Therefore… I am guilty of devouring all yummy goodies available — but after the healthy goodies. I will probably think twice about doing this run again (like ever). Trail runs are fun in a way that they are very scenic… but the beating my calves, ankles, & toes took makes it not worthwhile.
Overall, I think She Runs did an awesome job coordinating this race. The race starts at 8 am so be prepared to run in dry heat. Parking was not a problem… you get directed to a trail type dirt parking area. Just give yourself enough time to use the porta potty coz they only had three at the finish line. That is all. Happy Running.