Wildwoods Challenge

I completed my first trail race in Itasca State Park yesterday. It was a lot tougher than I expected. One thing that surprised me was how the course challenged me mentally. During the race, I got off the trail for awhile and had to backtrack to get back on. At another location, I missed a loop that I was supposed to add on to the race. It was very frustrating because I was never quite sure if I was running in the right place. I'm not sure if I completed 25k but I was pretty close since I added to the course in one place and subtracted in another.

The course was very tough physically also. I have not run such a hilly course ever. We were constantly going up a hills and then down. I did not have my garmin with to track my miles, but I wish I had. I know I slowed down a lot towards the end of the race. I was really cramping up the last couple miles and had to stop a couple times to stretch.

My final times was 2:37. I don't know when I'll do my next trail run but I think it definitely something I will want to do again. It will take a lot of training next time. I definitely learned a lot during the race though.