It is Mother's day, May 8th 2011 and I am recovering from my first trail run.It all started last weekend when I was sitting in church and the pastor described a fund raiser that a local youth group is sponsoring. The goal is to raise $70k to build a "Dream Center" in India to help rescue 150 children from sex trafficking, or as it was described "modern slavery". Tita and I thought this was a worthy cause and a great excuse to get outside and enjoy the beautiful Spring weather.
Without any time for preparation, I was a little nervous since I haven't exercised since before I started my job in Bethlehem last October. However, since the run was described as a 5k at a park in Princeton, I figured it couldn't be that bad. I've run a handful of 5ks in the past and a leisurely jog on the pavement seemed doable. Tita and a few ladies from church agreed to do the one mile walk.
Saturday, May 7th was race day. Tita and I went out for bagel sandwiches and headed to the park early to register. We arrived in plenty of time and looked over the park roads and were a little relieved to see how flat they were. We felt pretty good and confident in our ability to make it.
Shortly before 10:30am, a youth from the sponsoring group took the stage and provided a brief history of the sex trafficking trade in India and their aspirations to make a difference. Following a brief prayer, the announcer began to describe the course. Much to our surprise, he wasn't telling us about the left and right hand turns that we expected, rather he was describing fallen trees, exposed tree stumps and roots, standing water, running water, and the other hazards we should expect to encounter. It was at this point that I became a little worried.
I'll spare you the play by play of my jaunt through the wilderness, but a few highlights won't hurt:
I paced myself from the start. The first mile entailed running through tall grass and weeds up to my mid-shin, up and down a few rolling hills along side a lake. The scenery throughout the day was beautiful. God's creation is truly amazing.
I entered the forest after the first mile and was keeping a 12 minute per mile pace. Pretty slow for some of you, but given the circumstances, I was pleased. Once I hit the trail, the going was rough. The mud was sloppy and slippery in spots. There were many roots and stumps to avoid and a lot of bending down to avoid tree branches poking me in the eye. I broke from my jog and did some walking at various points. I couldn't tell if my muscles were wearing out or if I was losing my breath. A little of both, I guess. While I wanted to push myself hard throughout, another challenge was passing other runners on the trail. There was barely enough room for one person, let alone shoulder to shoulder runners. This made my decision to jog/walk much easier, though onlookers would later describe it as more of a "lumber".
Hurdling the fallen trees in the path was fun and gave the trail the feel of an obstacle course. About half way through, I stopped wondering why runners wear different shoes for trail running than pavement running. My shoes had cut into my ankles and I was bleeding slightly. Though the sting was not too great and did not affect my focus.
Fast forward to the home stretch; As I was coming out of the forest into a clearing of tall grass and weeds, a young teenager (about 13 year old) who I had chatted with a bit during the race began to sprint. I haven't felt competitive in many months or years, but all I could think about was tripping him or grabbing him by his arm and throwing him to the ground. Maybe I was delirious? Something clicked in my brain and I started to sprint as well. I left him in my dust and was mildly impressed with this 33 year old flabby body. I can still get it going if I need to.
I finished in blazing 41 minutes and 20 seconds. A mere 20 minutes off the leader's pace. But, this was a great experience. Tita, who was the only pregnant woman at that park, ended up walking the full 5k course. She was amazing and it was a great day.
