I have been a long time inline fitness skater (that’s another story) and while skating is something I do pretty regular, I am always looking for something new, athletic and challenging to do. How about something new like trail running?
About 2 years ago, I moved to a new city and as an adult who works remote full time, meeting new people wasn’t the easiest thing to do. I had to take the initiative to “put myself out there” if I was going to connect with some ladies to socialize with (which is not the most natural thing for me to do).
Since getting out and about was a “no-go” with COVID, I decided to brainstorm ideas of online ladies social groups. So I asked myself, “Besides skating, what other special interests might I have in common with ladies in my area?” This can honestly be the hardest thing to figure out: “What am I interested in?” So, I thought about my childhood. I really enjoyed being outside and hiking in the parks of Southern, Illinois. “Maybe, there are some places to go hiking around here?” I thought.
So I put my cursor in the FB search bar and was lucky enough to find a local ladies hiking Facebook group. I immediately joined and this is where my curiosity for hiking and trail running began.
Then my curiosity turned into interest (from reading all the posts) and my interest turned into action. (I’m a doer).
Admittedly, I didn’t do much planning for my first hike. I found a nearby state park, hopped in the car and hit the trails with a light weight back pack, some water, a banana, earphones and fully charged phone…and some shoes that I THOUGHT would be great for hiking based on how they looked. Ugh!!!
And off I went..scampering (yes I know how to scamper) threw the twisty trails. It was like a salsa dancing game through the tree roots that covered the trails and I couldn’t help pick up the pace to match the cadence of my musical playlist.
I had no map and had to use the trail markers for navigation which resulted in me getting lost and adding 2 additional miles to a 6 mile hike. But I didn’t care. I was just so happy to be outside, with nature, my tunes and a hike challenge and stamina wise? – I was doing just fine.
But then the blisters started to form around mile 6 and there was nothing I could do except to GRIT IT OUT and finish the trail loop. I had no first aid and clearly I had THE WRONG SHOES.
When I finally finished my first trail run, I had a gigantic blister and a lot of “lessons learned” for how to prepare for my next hike – one of the major lessons being – invest in the right shoes!!
