A Trail Race + Celebrating Our Anniversary!

(Top, shorts, shoes, glasses)

Two races in one week= A really good week.

This was a $5 race!

I met up with a few friends at 6:30, and we got in a 2-mile warm-up before heading to the starting line for race announcements. I had a few goals for the day:

*I didn’t want to fall and get hurt. I’m not in the mood to take time off from running during marathon training;)

*I wanted to keep my friend Jenn in sight for at least parts of the race. This would help me prevent getting lost (my #1 talent on trails), and if I accomplished this goal it would mean I put in a really hard effort because she is a beast on the trails.

*I wanted an average pace of 11:00 or faster.

I took a gel right before we started and had my handheld for water, but I remember wishing throughout the race that I wasn’t holding anything.

The first few miles include so much uphill. Mile 2 had 879 ft of climbing which meant I did a lot of hiking. Once you get to mile 3.5, you know it is the fun part because then you get to run down all the climbing you did for the rest of the way.
One of the trickiest parts of the course was how tall (at some points, it was up to my elbows) the grass was. You couldn’t even see the ground in many spots, leaving me wondering what was down there… Snakes? Bears? It was freaky, and this picture doesn’t show how little you could see at some points.

3.5 miles STRAIGHT up with a lot of crazy grass and a little less than 5 miles more gradual down and gorgeous flowers/views.

It was a 13k, and I finished in 1:27 with an average pace of 10:24 and 2,080 ft of climbing. My entire body was exhausted at the end of this race. Trail running requires every part of my body to be working to stay upright.

I took 4th female and hit 60.96 miles for the week with three solid efforts. Our group will go back to two hard efforts a week, but it was sure a fun/exhausting week of running.

You do so much winding in those final miles that you start feeling dizzy by the end.

They had the trail marked well, there was an aid station at the top of all of the climbing and watermelon/chocolate milk at the finish line… My kind of race!
After the race, my friend Jo told me about the best donut she had ever had in her life. She was right. We went to Lighthouse Donuts, and I will never be the same after this. 10/10.

After puzzling with Skye for a few hours and keeping Beck from jumping off the back of the couch, we left to celebrate our anniversary. We went to the Cliff Spa Snowbird, which was the perfect way to celebrate.

We had a couples massage, sat at the pool napping, and went to the steam room. We felt like new humans by the end.


A running pet peeve lately?

-I discovered this weekend that holding anything while running lately drives me crazy.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Road races vs trail races… What do you prefer?

How often do you like to race?

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24 comments

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Good job in your race!! I prefer road races, but I’ve only done a trail race once. Should probably try again!

Highlight of my weekend was spending most of yesterday outside- sunshine does so much good for my mood! Did an outdoor yoga class, walked dogs at the shelter, and read my book at a park near my apartment.

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Thank you, Mariah! Let me know if you sign up for another trail race! SO happy you were able to be outside so much yesterday and I love that you walk the dogs at the shelter. I should take Brooke to do that. Thanks for sharing and I hope your book is a great one. Happy Monday!

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Happy anniversary!! Sounds like a lovely trip :) We went to Chicago recently for our anniversary and not waking up by 6am to make our little dudes breakfast and having leisurely late dinners was heaven.

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I am so happy that you and your husband were able to go to Chicago to celebrate. It really is so nice to just take a bit of time away and then get so excited to see the little ones again after:). Hope you are all sleeping and have a great Monday. Thanks Betsy!

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Happy Anniversary! And congrats on the race. It sounds hard but amazing! I’ve never done a trail race, but I want to.
I HATE holding anything while I run. I know people say you can get used to handhelds, but I don’t like them. i have a hydration vest that I like much, much better.

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Thank you, Jenny! I think you should try out a trail race, they have such a different feel to them vs road races. Both are so great. I learned that I love my hydration vest much more on the trails. I was going CRAZY. I hope your day is a beautiful one!

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Congratulations on a great race!
I’ve never done a trail race before, but would love to try. I think I would be so concerned about falling, especially coming down.
Looks like you and Andrew had a wonderful time celebrating your anniversary. I love the “self care” date ideas! Just perfect.
Highlight of the weekend was honestly, just spending lots of time with my husband. Working on turning our son’s room into a new guest room, hanging out at the pool, just a good “boring” weekend.
Here’s to the start of a good week!

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Seriously, staying upright during a trail race uses a lot of my mental energy ha. Come do one with me in Utah on your way out to Colorado next time. I am so happy that you were able to spend so much time with your husband. Happy Monday, Wendy!

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That sounds like a wonderful anniversary! Also, way to go on the trail race–I have no idea how you don’t get lost!!!

My current pet peeve when running–THE SUN! I realized I can handle the heat and humidity, but it is the sun that makes me the most miserable.

I prefer to never race, haha. However, I am trying to change my mindset because going into a race thinking I am going to do horrible doesn’t do anything to boost my confidence.

Have a wonderful Monday Janae!

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Jenn is the only reason I didn’t get lost, ha. Uggg I get it, when that sun is beating down on me I start to become angry. But the humidity does that to me too. Keep doing what makes you happy. Thanks Becky, you too!

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Happy Anniversary!!!!! Looks like an amazing day =D

Also congrats on a great race, I love trail races so much and Utah has some beautiful trails.

We spent the weekend exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, it was magical (Come on out to Colorado, you and Andrew will love the trails) ;)

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I literally was telling Andrew just a few days ago about how I want to go to Colorado. Telluride is high on my list and now I need to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. That sounds dreamy! Thanks Beth and I hope you are having a beautiful day so far!

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Current running pet peeve: the heat. I can’t decide between humidity and the sun, but since I can run before the sun is fully up but can’t seem to avoid the humidity–humidity would probably win out.

The highlight of my weekend was probably my 10-miler yesterday. It was a little cooler, so even though I fell during my run it was nice to get a long run in.

I would love to try a trail run, but I haven’t yet. There aren’t many near me, and I would be really scared of falling(see above, lol).

I’ve been all over the place with races. I went for about four years and only ran for fun. Then I started back doing a couple of halfs a year, then COVID hit. I’m thinking now a fall and spring half each year is a good goal for me.

Congratulations on your trail race! You did awesome!

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I seriously am clapping for all of you running in the humidity. I do not understand how you do it. I hope it starts to calm down for you guys soon. Great job on your 10 miler. Come race a trail race here with me. You’ll have to let me know what fall half you sign up for this year. Cheering you on. Have a great rest of your day, Jen!

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I do not like to hold anything while I run. I prefer trail running to road running, I think the scenery is a nice distraction. I made the decision this past weekend to run on the trails with poles. Holding poles while running takes a bit of practice. I was nervous that I would trip myself with the poles (didn’t) and I actually liked the poles a lot more than I thought I would. It takes the pressure off of your lower back and knees on steep ascents/descents. I felt less fatigue in my legs when using the poles. I won’t be using them for every trail run but I will carry them with me for some of the steep bits.

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Megan, I have been wanting to try out poles on the trails. You are making me want to even more now. Thank you for sharing and I am so glad you were on the trails this weekend. Have a great week!

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Happy anniversary! Looks like a beautiful (challenging) race and a great day!
I have the same handheld bottle and you need to slide it further over your hand so your thumb pops out between the V in the the strap. That way you don’t need to grip the bottle at all and you can relax your hand. You’ll still have the weight of the bottle, but I think it makes a huge difference. I won’t buy bottles that don’t have the strap designed for that. Someone in a running store showed me that years ago and I share it with friends. I even noticed how you were holding the bottle in that first pic before you even mentioned not liking it!

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Well, this is valuable information. THANK YOU for helping. I will try this out!! Have a beautiful day, Liz!

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Great run! Sounds like a fun and challenging race. I also hate running with anything in my hands. Or anything bouncing in my pockets. So distracting!

Hope you had a great anniversary together!

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Thank you so much, Christine! I totally agree about how annoying it is to have something bouncing around in our pockets during a run. Thank you and I hope you have a beautiful day and zero runs carrying anything;)

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I had to double take that last picture. Was wondering why you spent your anniversary with Jared Ward 😂

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Hahaha best comment ever!!!

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I hate carrying anything…I’ve thrown away jackets on races because I didn’t want to carry them….not a huge fan of hydration packs..I’ve had a waste belt for about 10 years, holds one water bottle, maybe two gels, the bottle sits in the middle of my back and feels so comfortable, but no one still makes them…
had a great run with 4 friends, 2 new to our Sunday morning group loved that..and easy 10K with one huge hill…the heat is beginning….this week is supposed to Arizona type heat..not looking forward to that
we only have the regular Maurtens in store, how do you like the caffeine?

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Congrats on your race Janae. You are AMAZING! Happy Anniversary to you both. So happy you were able to go out and enjoy and relax together.

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