What can I say about Back to the Beach? This was a bit of milestone for me because Back to the Beach in 2012 was my very first half marathon. It's a trail run, and for a city-ish girl like me, it's a tough, TOUGH course. Given that I was injured going into it last year, I was so happy just to finish. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. To not be a trail runner and to tackle my first half marathon as a trail run... Well, I simply had no idea.
So I decided to come back in 2013...for the 10k. And believe me, the 10k was no joke. Again, I just don't run trails. I love them, but simply don't have the opportunity to run them that often. I ran this 10k with Becky. It was her first trail race, I think? So we both were a little out of our comfort zone. But, I decided that I had no goal finish time, I was just going to get out there and have fun. And it WAS fun. The trails at Stoney Creek Metro Park are gorgeous! And this being my first race of 2013 when it was more in the warm side, it was definitely nice to run on some nice, shaded trails.
I hadn't trained much since the half marathon. I took a full two weeks off after that. So my legs weren't quite ready to run 6.2, especially on trails. So I more or less took it easy. The only little game I played with myself - I was NOT walking up hills. I allowed myself a few little walk breaks here and there, but I was giving it everything I had going up hill.
Once I was done, I sat and watched others cross the finish line for a bit. As I was watching people finish the half, that look of triumph on their faces, and collecting their medals, I did actually have some feelings of regret for not tackling the half again this year. Not to mention the half was the only distance that got medals. Maybe 2014 will be the year I tackle the Back to the Beach half again. We'll see...
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