This morning I drove up about 60 miles north to Crystal Cove State Park and participated in a 6k trail run event. My motivation was to spend a day with my high school friend #651 – it was her birthday and she was treating herself – no, challenging herself – to achieving something new. She started off in January of this year walking in a 5k event that she was supposed to do with her best friend #649. That 5k walk was to honor #649’s mom who was battling cancer. Sadly, mom lost her battle so #651 had to swallow her fear of doing something so intimidating all by herself.
And she did it.
And that created a monster 🙂
We’ve been trading tales all year of our events and training progress. She dove right into doing mud runs and obstacle course events – hard core – I haven’t done those!
In October she did this one insane event that I honestly don’t think I could have done. She wore a video camera on the top of her hat and shot some really amazing video of her journey through the course. She walked most of it, needed help getting over and through a few spots, but she DID IT!
After that one she posted that today’s would be her next event and that her goal was to jog “some” of it. She’s been really trying to up her effort from walking to jogging.
The trail today was HARD. If I had been intending to run it all myself, I think I would not have been able to. The first two miles were almost totally UP an intensely steep hill – 813 feet. It zigged and zagged and I know I would have alternated running and walking from onr switchback to another. Otherwise I would have had NO stamina to get back down!
Somewhere on the trail I dubbed this Iron Ass Hill because going up this thing gives you an Iron Ass whether you want it or not!
See that teensy white piece of paper on the shrub? That was the 2 mile marker. HERE, it finally started to level off. We then turned another corner and came upon a water/gatorade stand. We each took a cup and then…with level trail and mostly downhill left – she said “Let’s GO!”
So at around the 2.1 mile marker we jogged.
The weather was perfect. December on the So Cal beach trails brings cooler air temps, but the sun still heats it up just enough. #649 and I were a little bit ahead and we started yapping and the next thing we knew we had gone a mile. At the start of the jogging we had given #651 a few tips on posture and gait which she had picked up. She found her comfort zone and just kept moving. One foot in front of the other, up and down at a steady pace. Before we knew it, we could hear the finish line, then see it, and then at the last little bit we all sprinted across together.
She ran TWO MILES today. After having only gone a block at a time around her house before!
Smiling the whole time – feeling no major aches or pains – she just kept on moving.
Now she wants to repeat all the events again in 2013. Only she wants to do MORE jogging than walking.
I think she’s got this 🙂
Trees & Flowers & Birds! 
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