A 10k and a 15k crossed the road...

Holy cow, my friends!! Can you believe July is over halfway finished already?

(source)

It has been a busy summer already and considering I have another race coming up tonight, I thought maybe I should write about the last two.

The first was all the way back on July 2 and it was a FREE 10k. This is the third or fourth time I have done this race and I always enjoy it. I completely appreciate that it is free and especially enjoy it because it is in my hometown. I spend the night prior at my parents and this year that meant extra time with my sister and her crew.  My mom has also walked the 5k option the past few years as well so she waits for me at the finish line. I love being able to share an event with my mom who also enjoys being active and does all kinds of amazing things to do so!! 

part of the River Runners crew pre- race

large, more complete group post-race

This year was a little different though since I actually placed in my age group for the first time ever at this race!!!!! To be honest, I haven’t won many age group awards in my time so this felt REALLY great. I might have even wore my medal into the grocery store afterwards.

If only they spelled my name right ;)

A little less than 10k, but super stoked about the pace!

My next race was a complete 180. The following weekend, I embarked on a little adventure with one of my running pals. This was a race that my pal had put a bug in my ear about not all that long ago and then reminded me the day that shirt guarantee ended.  It was a trail race and a 15k at that, so you know I was a sucker and signed up!  As soon as we pulled in, I was so glad I did.

What's not to love about this view?? I mean... come on!!

The race was about an hour and a half away so we chit-chatted it up (shocking, I know). We arrived with plenty of time to get our shirts and bibs, use the bathrooms, and hang out for a bit before the race started. 

Oh... and take selfies!!

I am not going to lie, this was a tough course. To be fair to myself, I honestly think that I had not given blood Friday and tried to run this race Sunday, I would have been much more successful. I didn't think it would effect me that much, but apparently it did. This course was much rockier than any I have ever done to date, but I do not regret doing it for a minute. In fact, I think we both decided pretty quickly that we would absolutely do it again and try to convince some others to come along next time. We both enjoyed the challenge and the scenery cannot be beat.

Plus... they fed us delicious food afterwards and gave out pint glasses instead of medals to all finishers. By delicious food I mean hot dogs and bagels which tasted like a 5 star dinner after the race we just ran. 

I absolutely love this race shirt, too. I tested it out the other day and it is so comfortable. I see myself getting a lot of good wearings out of it. 

So even though July is over half way over, you can see I have been enjoying the racing life.. maybe a little too much but what a better way to spend summer, right?!?

What races have you been up to? Do you prefer trail to road in the summer?