I didn't fall down!!

I wanted to write a quick (well..quick-ish) race report, while the thoughts are still fresh in my mind (well..fresh-ish). I ran the Knobstone Mini Marathon this morning, which is a trail run down in Morgan-Monroe Forest Park, & it was great! I had a blast.. and I'm happy to report that I didn't fall down! Which is funny (to me) for a couple reasons.. 1st, I honestly have fallen at least once on every single trail outing thus far.. so this is a big one! I'm actually a little bummed b/c I usually feel that a good trail fall indicates a good run.. maybe I ran this one too cautiously?! Oh, well.. But I also find this funny b/c Mason has added "don't fall down" to his list of things he says to Matt on his way out the door for work.. "Bye, Bye...Have a good day.. Don't fall down"(??) Now, if you don't know what Matt does for work.. you might think.. "maybe he's in the circus & walks the tight rope".. in which case, "don't fall down" would just be good, sound advice.. But, no. He rents cars.. I'd have to think his fall risk is pretty minimal, which is why it cracks me up when Mason is so genuine when he asks him when he gets home "did you fall down today"?.. and when he says no, he says "great job!".. very interesting little fella.. Anyway, so I was excited to be able to come home to proudly tell my little guy that his mama did NOT fall down today! He was thrilled. So anyway.. I hit this race solo.. I figured there wouldn't be much for the fam to do while I traipsed through the woods.. Got there & it was a pretty chilly morning, but the low-key, small field of runners huddled around the camp-fire chatting about..well.. what most runners chat about.. shoes (are those vibrams??).. trail running (you're running the Tecumseh marathon, too?? 1st time?? Oh, good luck.. it's hard)..etc.. aren't we an exciting crew? it was a pleasant break from the bustle of big road races and tri's. But time came for the run to start & we were off. Things were going very well.. the trail had a pretty good balance of ups & downs.. some tough 'ups', which the trail regulars informed me I was to walk up.. Now, let me pause for a moment to discuss this.. I've heard it over & over again.. "the 1st rule of trail running is to walk up the hills".. yeah, yeah, yeah.. I know.. I suppose I can see walking up 'some' of the hills.. or the really tough ones.. or the ones you just need to walk on b/c you're too tired to run, but why must we walk when we still feel fine?? I know.. to 'save your legs'..for what?? the rest of the race? I don't know.. again, I understand the rationale & can see doing that for ultra runs, or even the marathon I'm going to be doing in a few weeks..and this 1/2 was, I think, the farthest I had run on a trail thus far, so I suppose some good old fashioned hill walking could have been in order.. But that's still a tough concept for this trail newby.. to walk when you're feeling fine.. BUT. I must add that I did wear myself out at one point, which the fella that had encouraged me to walk up an early hill chalked up to my being tired from running up hills.. But I'm not so sure.. Maybe it was partly from that, but I think the bigger issue was the fact that I hit a major 'struggle bus' portion when I wasn't able to take my Gu when I needed it.. You see.. I swear I read somewhere that there was going to be water every 2mi on this coarse.. but clearly I had that mixed up w/ some other race, b/c they were not that close here.. My plan was to take my 1st Gu about 40/45min in to the run & then continue about every 40-ish min throughout.. but that was when I thought the water stations were going to be pretty regular, so I opted not to carry my own water (doh!). So anyway.. the 1st water station felt a little early for a Gu..probably closer to 30 min in or so? I know.. even if it HAD been every 2mi, I still would have fallen behind.. ah..hindsight.. Anyway, so I just took water & figured I'd get the Gu at the next stop.. Well.. like clock work.. an hr in to the run w/ no water station in sight, I was running on empty.. It's quite a feeling to be able to literally feel the energy drain out of you.. I couldn't take the Gu w/o water b/c that's just asking for stomach issues.. so I plodded along for about 15min or so to the next water. After I was energized, things were fine & I was really able to pick it up for the last 4 miles, which felt good. SO. I was hoping to come in closer to 2 hrs, but had to settle for a 2:21(ish) finish.. I think if I had gotten my nutrition when I needed it & not had to struggle for those 15 min.. I could have been a touch faster.. but for my 1st trail mini.. I'll take it! I should also add that even before I started the run, my legs were very sore.. probably from doing squats & box jumps at crossfit the day before.. Ooops! So my legs are thoroughly feeling it right now.. and I have another 1/2 to run tomorrow! Ah... It'll be fun, though.. it's the relay race w/ some friends, so I'm looking forward to it! I'll keep ya posted on how that one goes.. but for now.. I'll sit here in my campfire scented shirt & think fondly of my trot through the woods.. I'm really liking these trail runs!