It’s been one week since my first marathon and it’s crazy how soon you itch to run again.

I’ve forced myself to take it easy and probably should take it more easy–and I plan too.

This is what last week looked like:

Sunday: Rest and recovery
Monday: Rest and recover
Tuesday: 4 easy miles
Wednesday: Core work
Thursday: Hip, legs, and glute work
Friday: Rest and recovery
Saturday: 6 miles @ 9:30/mile
I made sure to ice, stretch and foam roll throughout the week as well.

Sunday, yesterday, I really wanted to head to the trails with my run club. There’s a place they like to frequent that has a 3 mile loop, a 7.5 mile loop, and a 10 mile loop. I figured if I was going to drive the 30 minutes to get there I should eliminate the 3 mile and do either the 7 or 10 to really enjoy it. Since it’d only been a week out from my marathon, I went with the 7.5.

The weather was absolutely beautiful. Perfect for a trail run. I was so excited!

All distances started together which I liked. A few of my buddies were doing the loop I was so I decided to hang out with them since I didn’t really know where I was going.

We took off and at about mile 3 reached this picturesque spot. Since it was my first time on this trail, I found it necessary to take a picture 🙂

and this is why I love trail running

We started to separate soon after this spot as people gained/lost speed. I hung around a friend with a similar pace for a while until we parted around mile 5.

I was on my own and just relishing the views and fresh air. There was a slight wind cooling me as I went and I couldn’t help but just soak everything in. No pressure about time, no pressure about anything.

It made me really start to look forward for the Canyon in May.

It’d been years since I’d been trail running. In high school, a looong time ago, that was all we trained on. I’m from in-the-middle-of-nowhere Arizona, so we always ran in the desert. I loved it and when I moved to the city, didn’t make an effort to drive the distance to make it a trail.

But it was like I had never left. There is nothing like breathing in the fresh air and hearing the sounds of the desert 🙂

–Do you like trail running?
–Is there a place you especially like to run at?