Trail runs are for sissies.

Good night, these people are crazy. Yesterday one of the Ohana took me on my very first big girl trail run. We ran an "easy" 5/6 mile loop of the HURT 100 mile endurance race. Translation: it was one of the hardest 7 mile runs of my life. Basically we went from 300 to 1800 in the first 1.5 miles, piddled around at the ridge crest for a few miles, and headed right back down. The course was muddy, rocky, and had about a 2 foot ridge to run on before a sheer drop-off. Oh, and to top it off, we timed it poorly and ended up having to bust out the headlamps after dark. Did I mention the wild pigs and hunting dogs come out at sunset? Great.

Despite my concerns noted above, I had a blast. I got muddy, I got sore, and by the end of it I was completely exhausted. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for the HURT 100 runners. We ended up "running" at a 15:16 pace, which was due to having to power walk a major portion of it. I learned that I must get trail shoes ASAP, because I had way too much fun on the trails.

Here's some images from the trails. I took them with my cell phone, so I apologize for the pathetic quality.






Here's my running buddy showing off his wounds. I get in a gnarly bike accident and take Loritab for a week, he nearly destroys his bike and turns around a runs the next day. What a wuss (him, of course!)


And finally, our thoughts on our mental state of choosing to run at sunset: