Run Like a Girl!

Today was the annual Run Like a Girl 10k trail race at Lower Mcleay Park in Portland. I ran with 749 other women on one of the most beautiful, and challenging coarses I've ever been on. We started at 9am in waves of fifty women every 90 seconds, I was in wave four. Aaron and the kids came to cheer mommy on and give lots of kisses!
I had a touch of the stomach flu last night, but I really wanted to run the race, and so against my better judgement I did. I definitely felt the effects from it on the run, but am so glad I did it. The trail seemed to be 99% up-hill, I think that every participant walked more than once to recover from the steep incline. You couldn't take your eyes off of the path because of all the rocks and tree trunks..hence the 'trail' run. There was a group of about 5 of us running together in single file and encouraging each other on our Mt. Everest run, which was a lot of fun. Then at about mile four we hit a pretty steep down grade, (Praise Jesus for down hill!!) and then we all fell. Other women started yelling "ladies down, ladies down" and they all came to our rescue. I left some blood on the trail, took a minute to walk it out, and then kept on. Finally, I made it to the finish!! I was cheered on by three sweet kids, and an awesome husband, the best sight ever. :) A great end to the weekend!