Today I “ran” my first trail. One of the guys in our club organised an outing in his native village up in the Jura Vaudois. I’d never run up a mountain before, so when I woke up this morning a thought crossed my mind that I should probably have different shoes. So I went and bought some trail shoes. I’m so glad I did: I would have probably killed my feet, my joints or fallen on my face while running down the mountain, but with my new shoes I felt like a little mountain goat with a grip on every rock.
So, we started off running. 10 seconds up the road and I was already walking. I realised very quickly that it was so steep that I could actually keep up with those who were running by just walking fast, while saving more energy. So, walk I did. Whenever I felt that I was lagging behind, I picked up the pace and ran a little, but I only had to do that when the path levelled out a little because no one was able to run much up the steep hills.
When we got to the top and started running down, my thighs started bugging me, so I tried to not force myself too much. I was able to keep up with my mates anyway, so I was pretty happy. We ran back down all the way, making the most of the wide paths and being really careful not to trip in the steep, irregular forest.
Overall, I loved this run. All the years of hiking payed off on the climb, and all the months of running really helped while coming down. Frequently, during our hikes, we get really bored during descents, so I think we’ve just found the mode that suits us best! I cannot wait to try another trail run!
quince cheese 