Saturday morning I accomplished something I had never done before.
I put on my running gear, and ran up a mountain. I had completed six races prior to this one, all ranging between 3-6 miles. The mileage varied, but the terrain was always similar. Road runs with inclines and declines. It was time for something new.
Before starting this race my only concern were the slugs. I hate slugs, in fact I loathe slugs. Most people are afraid of spiders and heights..well I am afraid of slugs. I don’t exactly live in an area that accommodates this fear. By the end of the run I could have shared a Snuggie with all the mountain slimers. They were the last thing on my mind.
The weather was decent upon arrival. It wasn’t raining, but it wasn’t sunny. Typical weather for a Washington day.
I love my hot pants.
I am a big fat weenie when it comes to running up hills. I would rather donate blood. The hills I normally run up are tough, but don’t last more than a mile. This mountain had over three miles of straight incline. We climbed and climbed with a few small teasers of rest. I might have whined.. OK I whined. The run was 5.3miles total and 3+ miles were STRAIGHT uphill. My time was sLOooOwww, but I finished. The run looked something like this.
Obviously 3rd grade paid off when all I could draw was one type of NW native tree. This is what the trail looked like..I think. I didn’t see much trail because my slug radar was on, and by the time I got to mile 3 I stopped caring about the slugs and started thinking about where on this mountain I wanted to die. I was sure my heart was going to give out at any moment. I was comforted by the amount of people I saw walking up the hills. Including the marathoners. These hills were NO joke. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”
5.34 miles later I was done. The decline was great, though it wasn’t enough. I don’t know how it was possible to climb up more than we came down..but I swear that’s how it worked out. I am proud of my accomplishment, and can now add “trail runner” to my resume..maybe. I partied with the trail runners, these people are a different breed. I tried to fit in by getting muddy, but I am sure they laughed at my rookie attempt.
After the run it was all about refueling.
My first trip to Chipotle. A veggie bowl with rice and beans. Swoon. I must admit the run was enjoyable when the terrain was flatter, and the views were of mountains and tops of trees. I don’t see another trail run anytime soon in my future, though someday I will give it another go. For now..my focus continues to be on the Disneyland half-marathon training!! 2 weeks down, 10 weeks to go!
Q: Who out there has completed a trail run? Did you hate/like/love it? I hated the hills, liked the decline, and loved when it was over! I’d like to give a big fat thank you to my boyfriend for putting up with my complaints and pushing me to keep going.
Blissfulbritt 
45 thoughts on “I Think I Can”
Alex @ therunwithin
Congrats, I remember my first trail race was all adrenaline. It was insane the rocks we had to scale and jump. Nice job on this!
Nicole Marie Story
Hi hi hi! I love the trails specifically for the descent! I do NOT run on the trails, but I DO bicycle ride! Flying back to home base with my monkey in tow is OH SO fab!!!
OMG and guess what else! The rivers apparently do the same thing! Upstream and downstream! We kayaked on Saturday, and returning to home base against the current was a bitch, especially when I was trying to NOT allow the other kayakers to overtake me… the monkey and I won. Of course. 😉
And a big fat congratulations on not touching any slugs!!! OMG, I would have screamed and called someone to pick me up at the nearest trailhead! 😀
Did you receive my wine email?! I hope! 😀 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Roya Ghorbani
The pants look so badass! Congrats Britt!
Roya
http://www.royaghorbani.wordpress.com
Health Freak College Girl
How fun! You’re pants…I WANT.
Rach @ This Italian Family
Oh girl, that is an INTENSE run! I am super impressed! And I love your paaaants!
Maren
Oh my gosh! That was your first trip to Chipotle??? EVER??? I make weekly trips for the veggie bowl.
I have yet to run a trail run… scary. Good job finishing yours. You’re so inspiring. I might have to find one and register… eee.
Choc Chip Uru
Good on you 😀
Congrats for achieving your goal!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
P.S Those pants are gorgeous!
GiGi Eats Celebrities
I would rather chew my right arm off and start nibbling on my left before running up a damn hill. It’s pathetic. I am obsessed with exercise but NEVER ask me to go for a hike… unless it’s a hike to the gym! LMFAO!!
Boise Runner (@RunInBoise)
I do some of the trails in the Boise foothills. I can handle getting dirty, but the hills – ugh. Not fun but sometimes those views from the top of the hills are pretty freaking awesome. And slugs, I can handle. But the ticks are bad in our area right now. Those creep me out enough to keep me from the trails.
My Plant Based Family
You are awesome! As a runner newbie I cannot imagine running trails.
Manfriend
This was my first trail race and I LOVED IT!!!!!! You did awesome! and our time was great for conquering that mountain. My favorite memory from the run is what you said at the top of the mountain…
“I wanna drop trou and poopie all over the forest floor!!!!”
I am so proud of you for facing your fear and continuing to fight till the finish line. Disneyland will be here soon and you wont have to run with slugs instead we will be running with goofy, some dwarfs, maybe a princess or two, and a duck who wears a shirt but no pants.
I love you
Nicole Marie Story
This comment is 100% hands down the most adorable thing on the internet at this exact moment. Awwwwwwwww!
Kailey
CONGRATS on the run girl!! 3+ miles uphill is brutal but you did it!! Any chipolte afterwards – well that is a win win situation 🙂
Alexandra
DANG nice job girl!!! I want your pants…they may be missing from your closet tomorrow morning… 😉
chocoaeggie
Wow! Congrats on your trail run! I love your pants, they are too cute!!
tiffany @ life of a med student
wooo how fun! i’ve always wanted to do a trail run…
Sarah @ Feeeding the Brain and Body
Yay, congrats on doing the trail run! I have always wanted to do one, but still haven’t. I have never been to Chipotle, but your refuelling looks delicious 🙂
townsendlee
Wow! Is THAT the definition of trail running? 🙂 That sounded like mountain torture! Now keep in mind this is coming from a 50-year-old who just eased through her first 5k! 🙂 Congratulations on your determination. You deserve a medal …. and an art award for your picture! 🙂
Loved this post! And thumbs up for yum-yum-yummy veg goods!
Vicki
the second serving
CONGRATS!! Macho macho wo-man
PM
congrats! all the dirt and grime was worth it 🙂 i loved the drawing of the run but the food was better definitely!
Tessa@AmazingAsset (@Tessa8m)
You are flippen amazing girl frannn… trail runs are fantastic but quite hard, and I am so proud of you! Love the drawing too! haha 😀
Simply Life (@SimplyLifeBlog)
wow! I have a hard enough time getting up the hills in WA- great job running up them! amazing!
Just A Smidgen
Such a steep run will do wonders for your regular training, I think?! And, yes, love those pants!!!
GOtheXtraMile
Woo congrats!! I LOVED the trail run I did, but luckily there were no serious hills. Just a bunch of branches!
Lou Dwan
Yeah dude, working those groovy pants! I like hiking, but not RUNNING while hiking ya know? I want to be able to breathe/not be dying while enjoying the outdoors! Well done to you though, you are a machine. I hate slugs too. Ick. So slimey.
Shira
Amazing!! You must have felt just incredible Britt! Way to GO!
Khushboo Thadani
Running up hills is a biatch and a half so I am super proud of you, my friend! Not sure I would have sucked it up as gracefully :)! And that Chipotle bowl looks amazing- makes every incline % of that hill worth it eh! Would love to read more about your training schedule for the Disney half!
naturallybalanced
Way to go! I have done a trail run that is not so steep like that, it has ups and downs and curves but is all around pretty good 🙂
Emily @ Skinny Fit
SO cool! Great job, btw! I’m doing a my first trail run in a few weeks so it should be interesting. 🙂
thoughtsappear
I hate running up hill. And by “up hill,” I mean anything not level.
gabby.runs
Great job, congrats! Way to kick those hills’ butt! Haha 🙂
Trail races seem pretty intimidating so i haven’t tried one yet. We’ll see. I’ a weenie when it comes to hills as well.
Have a great day!
Oh, and i loved that picture of you and your Manfriend … Too cute!
imakeeper
OMGE WE ARE THE SAMER PERSONE!!!! I CANT EVEN TYPE B/C IM SOO EIXICTEDDDD
Saturday, my dear soulmate, MR SPEEDY AND I, ran a RACE that was ALL HILLS AND UPS AND DOWNS!!!! Although it was not a trail race, it was on a road, but had massive elevation throughout which we were not used to. it was a 10 mile race. WE BASICALLY DID THE SAME THING BUT AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS! ….. How is this possible? Each blog brings us more together as one.
Im proud of you. I dont like slugs either, they all can go to sluggy heaven. I love the pic of you two, and your pants turn me on. So much in fact that if you were in a forest, you would blend in and I would not be able to find you. (that makes no sense and i have no idea what im talking about)
i love that you ran this!! you beasttttttt!!!!!
consciouscravings
Daaaaamn girl. You loook fine in those hot pants. Hahaha now i really need me a pair of those. Way to go on getting through that. I bet it was pretty intense. Me up hills = total out of breath failure. I would probably have died if I were you. I’m mega impressed!
savor the sweet life
Awesome job! I am a whimp when it comes to hills as well. I’ve never done a trail run before…but I think I might die doing it. Also, I went to Chipotle the first time a couple weeks ago…I can see how people go crazy for that stuff.
Bean
LOL I love your illustration. That’s how I feel when I run hills as well. While away for my brother’s wedding, I decided that I was going to go for a run and started running down this hill into the river valley and then it got to a point where I started thinking about how I didn’t want to run up the whole hill, so I turned around. Going up the hill was like death (well, maybe not quite that bad – haha), so I’m glad that I didn’t go all the way to the bottom!
Cara
I have never done a trail run, but I would do an outdoor run over a treadmill run any day! I just feel like I am making progress and I can visually see that I am! SUPER congrats Brittany! That is a HUGE accomplishment! I can imagine most people would have struggled walking up that hill! But, the terrain sounds awesome. Are you allowed to listen to tunes during marathons?
Life After Swimming
YOU ARE AWESOME! And the pants look great. I hate hills so I am rather impressed 🙂
Miss. Zoe
couple of points:
1. So stinkin beyond proud. Way to push yourself lady!
2. Love that manfriend rocks the pink laces.
3. Eventually we will run a race together.
4. I mostly trail run and have so much trouble with road races! first one is tomorrow! eek. bahh it’s so funny how training makes all the difference!
Miss. Zoe
twice now i’ve made a five point [1. blah blah blah 2. blah blah blah etc] comment on this post. this is the third and I guarantee this one will post, but after all the commenting failure lets just say this : yay you, your awesome, lets be real life friends.
Miss. Zoe
bahh it DID post.. where did point number 5 go??
Brittany
Hahaha, it vanished!?
Errign
Great job! Slugs are nasty little creatures, aren’t they?
caloricandcrazy
Those pants look SO great on you. And good for you for trekking that mountain! That Chipotle bowl looks yummy :)!
Natalie @ will jog for food
Congrats! I did a trail run once, a 10k. It was HARD! The worst part was the waist deep water I had to run through for a few minutes.
Cakes and Shakes...
Well done! I run all the time but I avoid hills like the plague in case I actually bust a sweat or something 🙂 God forbid. I happen to live in a flat country so this is quite easy. I love your shorts, cute!