Party of Five: At least this time, I didn't need a head lamp.

This past weekend, I completed my "big" run of the year, a 10-mile trail run at Winona Lake Trails. It solidified one thing for me.

I LOVE trail running.

This was my second-ever trail run and I gotta say, I'm kinda hooked on it. I've spent the last few days Googling trail races and trail running websites and trying to figure out what Ben's reaction would be if I told him I planned to travel the country and hit random trail races every other weekend or so.

This course was a challenging one, and by challenging I mean barely-one-foot-wide-single-track-winding-through-the-woods-with-steep-ascents-and-descents-and-I-mean-STEEP-as-in-I-am-having-to-grab-onto-this-here-tree-trunk-as-I'm-climbing-this-hill-to-keep-myself-from-sliding-back-down-it.

It was FABULOUS.

My time was decent, I'm not a super-star by any means, but my goal was to finish in under 1:50; I made it in 1:43:43.

I think I can honestly say I would not have enjoyed a straight 10-mile run nearly as much. There's just something about trail running that energizes me so much more.

The problem is, trail runners tend to be....how can I say it....NUTS.

The two trail runs I have done have both had multiple races, so you can choose between a) long, b) really long, or c) you are clearly certifiably insane.

Like my first race, a quarter marathon (6.55 miles); the other two choices were a half-marathon or full marathon.

This race, I ran the 10-mile loop. You could also sign up for a 30-mile or 50-mile race.

Yes, you read that right. FIFTY miles. Through the woods. It took one person 14 hours to complete this. I can't even SLEEP for fourteen hours straight very well.

I'm really not interested in marathoning, certainly not ultra-marathoning, and I'm pretty hesitant to even try another half-marathon. I did pretty okay on this 10 miles, so another 10- or 13-mile race might be doable, but that's really not my passion. I adored the quarter-marathon race, that distance is PERFECT for me, but it's a lot harder to find trail races that are that short of a distance.

At any rate, up next for me is the sprint triathlon next month. 500-yard swim, 11-mile bike, 3.1-mile run. This is my first ever triathlon, it's one of those things on my list that I've always wanted to do, so I'm pretty pumped about crossing this one off.

(As an aside, I found a nearby triathlon including trail run that is scheduled for August. If my first tri goes well, you can count on me signing up for that one.)