This past Sunday I managed to make my way up to the rainy mountains for the Dirty Feet Sun Peaks Trail Run!

It was my second time running this race and I almost, ALMOST, signed up for the 10K distance but chickened out changed my mind at the last minute. I’m glad I did because judging by the way my legs still feel three days later … another 5K on top of what I did probably would have made me wheelchair-bound.

Anyway, I drove myself up to the mountain in time to pick up my race package and had about an hour and a half to kill before I had to line up at the start line, so I treated myself to a light breakfast at Cahilty Creek Kitchen restaurant. It was lovely eating in relative peace and not having to tell a tiny human to sit nice and eat their dang food! I had poached eggs with a slice of bacon, a sausage link, toast, and fruit, and it was just enough to fuel me up without weighing me down! I highly recommend stopping there for breakfast if you’re ever up at Sun Peaks. (Their regular menu looks pretty awesome too, IMO.)

After breakfast I wandered back to my car to stay warm and dry before the race. It was pretty wet in general all weekend, but thankfully the rain subsided just enough to make it not completely horrible by the time the 5K runners had to start. (I can’t say the same for the 1/2 or Full Marathon runners though!) I eventually crawled out of my warm car and met up with some fellow running folks I knew from town before getting ready at the start line!

Overall, I felt pretty good during the race. The mud wasn’t too terrible, although there were a few spots where it was pretty slick and I had to slow down a bit so I wouldn’t slip and fall. As it turns out, adjusting my gait/stride for the mud wrecked havoc on my knees and they’re pretty dang sore. The more you run the more you learn …

I don’t know if it’s the course itself or if the mountains just play with the GPS function, but it always clocks this race at just under 5 km. Whichever it is, you can totally tell by my splits where the uphill battles were, and where I had the privilege of coasting downhill.

All things considered, I’m pretty happy with my final time of 31:36. I was aiming to beat my time from last year’s race, and I think it definitely could have been possible had the trails not been so muddy! I’m looking forward to next year’s event already!