My aunt and uncle from Indiana invited me and my husband to come over to their place to spend the weekend with them. They told us about their plan of running 16 miles on Saturday with their running buddies and invited us to run with them. I am not ready to run that far (yet). I told them that I would be more than happy to join and run some of it with them.

As I was lying in bed about to sleep, I began to contemplate about running with them (gasp!). I know how fast they run. They were saying they’re just going to be slow, but their version of “easy” pace, 8:00 – 9:00 min/mile is “holy-crap-that-is-fast” pace for me. I’m not going to lie, I was tempted to bail, but then, I realized this would be a perfect (crazy-hard) challenge for me, since I usually run by myself.

So, the morning of  Saturday, we met up with their running friends at 6:30 a.m at the trail.

I’m glad I didn’t bail. You never regret a run, right?! …especially a run with a group of nice people who share same interest.

My morning run definitely reminded me again why I love trail running.

We allowed ourselves to stop and look around, appreciate the beauty of the natural world. I found myself thankful whenever we do that. That means I could take a break. Lol! 🙂

The trail has steep hills which makes it more fun, not really a bad thing. 🙂

It’s more interesting than running on roads. I feel so engaged and aware on the trails without knowing how far we’ve already run.

I ran 7 miles with them while they continued to run and finished their 16 ++ miles. I wish I could have kept up with them, but I know my limits. I think 7 miles at what they call “easy” pace was about all I could handle. I was really happy to be done. 🙂

It was nice to run with a group and there’s no way I would have pushed myself like I did without them.

Thank you, Uncle Russ and Auntie Beni, for inviting us!

Sunday was a lot of fun! After church, we did a lot of crazy shopping and eating. My cousin baked cake for dessert. Oh, I love desserts and since I ran 7 miles, I ate that slice of cake with pride. Haha!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

XOXO.