Trail running is hard.

Winnie's and my road to a full ironman in November goes through Vineman 70.3 in July. Last year Vineman was each of our first 70.3s ever, and my run was awful (which didn't help my Eeyore attitude about running). I wasn't ready for how hilly the course was and probably walked a good quarter of it.

To train for the hills of Windsor, CA this year, Winnie and I signed up for Fleet Feet Burbank's Trail Series. If I can handle trail running, I can handle a hilly road course. Today was the first run and - although mostly flat and only about 4.5 miles - it was way tougher than running the same distance on the road.  I have a whole new respect for cross country runners now.

Some things I've learned:

1. My pace will need to be about a minute slower than road running.  I went out way too fast initially - probably fast for even a road run - and blew up around mile 2.
2. I really need to work on my core strength. I've ignored it to-date, probably eeking by on what I have from swimming. Trail running requires a much tighter core because you're maintaining your balance over uneven terrain.
3. I have to adjust expectations. Because of #1 and #2 above, trail running is much more of an overall workout. That means "5-miles-is-no-biggie" might work for road running, but 5-miles-on-the-trail is a whole different beast.

Fleet Feet has a great group doing the series and it's going to be a lot of fun. Again, just a different beast.

That's it for now. I'll post next week when we hit up Fleet Feet's Trail Series Run #2. #IMAZorBonk