Miscalculating the difficulty of trail running

Okay, so a tiny bit of personal history. I’d consider myself a fairly active person. I'm a single mother of two rambunctious kiddos, one with autism. I’ve completed two 5k foam fest obstacle courses. I’m the ambassador for a local all girls hiking group called “hiker babes”. I enjoy pretty much all things outdoors; hiking, swimming, running, kayaking, fishing, you name it.

So of course, when I saw that one of my neighbourhood trail running groups were doing an 11k fundraiser for the SPCA I was one of the first people to jump on board! I was under a bit of a misguided assumption that I would fit right in. I mean, Having two rescue animals myself and loving all things nature, I would consider that a fair assessment. Wouldn't you say?

We all met up on that intensely humid day in June pumped up and ready to go! Our lovely organizer reassured some of us new-comers that we had no obligation to keep up with any of the veteran runners and to just go at our own pace, you know, the typical leadership speech. But being who I am, I didn’t think I would have to worry THAT much. Right?

Wrong. Apparently I was too quick in my confidence at this point because about two minutes in I seemed to be more toward the back half of the group. About fifteen minutes in I was decently humbled by falling significantly behind. To the tune of, I was completely alone in the woods, running to keep up with a group of runners who had seemingly vanished into thin air.

I suppose another key factor here to point out would be that trail running is quite a different experience than normal running. There's inclines, declines, slops, twists, turns, stumps, rocks, cliffs, animals, branches. It's basically an obstacle course made by mother nature.

A wave of emotions washed over me. Embarrassment, humility, exhaustion, anxiety, defeat. But being in the woods alone to the sounds of nature those emotions eventually turned into calmness, perseverance, determination, and drive. I was running for a great cause to raise money. I was outdoors doing what I love and trying something new. Who cares if despite my previous endeavours my activity level wasn’t on par with the rest of the group?

With this new found energy I kept pushing through the run, slowing to more of a speed walk here and there. But eventually once the rest of the group finished, our organizer ran back to find me, the little lost black sheep. Well, I was probably more red than black by that time. Red faced, legs feeling like jello, sweaty, hot mess. But hey! don't judge me.

With her cheering me on I finally, after what seemed like an eternity, got back to the trail end with the rest of the team. I felt somewhat undeserving but received my medal and the most refreshingly cold bottle of water I’ve ever tasted in my life. It may have been a bit later than the rest but I certainly worked hard for it! I felt like a complete outcast, a little bit pathetic, and extremely out of my comfort zone. But the girls were so supportive which helped immensely.

Signing up for that run I never imagined I'd be the runt of the group, completely incompetent of keeping up. I don't regret it though, I got to experience something new, meet a few people, and build a little bit of necessary character. However, I think after everything is said and done, I will happily stick to my hiking and solo runs. Or at least train much more before I try a feat of that nature in trail running again.

In conclusion, social shock isn't exactly a fun thing to experience. But I do, however, believe that sometimes it is a stepping stone that brings us to bigger and better things, being vunerable and trying new things brings out our authenticity. Isn't that something to always strive to be? Authentic.

Cheers