First Trail Race

As I was looking for new parks for trail running, I came across the Dirt Days Trail Series. Its 7 dates with 9 events that are scored with the Dirtiest Dozen receiving awards at the end of the season. I wish I would have found out about this series earlier. Its all trail running, which I love. And the races are about $10 each. That's super cheap for an organized, chip timed event. Three of the events have already passed, and the future races are on weekends I'm already competing or busy. However, this Sunday, I am free!  Its at East Fork Park on Sunday at 9am. There are 2 distances 5.6 and 10.8 miles. I really struggled deciding which race to run. The most I have run is 6.6 miles, which I did last week at French Park. Going from 6.6 miles to 10.8 miles is a really big jump. My concern is injury. Over-exerting my feet, ankles, and knees instead of a more gradual increase. This is especially true with trail runs since you're running over roots and rocks. However, I wanted to do the 10.8 to get a feel for the mileage since the Super is 8-9 miles.This decision would have been much easier if they had an 8 mile option. After a night to sleep on it and input from my fellow Spartan Chicks (an FB group), I decided to race the 5.6 miles. In sports there is a fine line between being tough and being smart. Risking injury is not an option right now. If I have anything left after the 5.6 on Sunday, I figured I can go again on my own to gain the mileage or do some power sets to squeeze out the last little bit. Most importantly, I don't want to needlessly push myself and end up with an injury that hinders my training. Better to run 5.6 this week, and be able to tackle 9 miles at Mt. Airy in the very near future.

The link for the Dirt Trail Series is below. This website also has a schedule of many other local races.

http://www.runningtime.net/Races/Dirt%20Trail/home.htm

My final concern is my outfit. I have my Brooks Cascadia trail shoes, my Nike combat shorts, and my Under Armour Undies. I can't decide if I want to wear my Spartan Chick Tank. My brother screened the dri-fit tank I wore in the IN Spartan Race for me. On the front it says "Spartan Chick". On the back it says, "You got Chicked." With it being my first trail race and going alone, I don't want to be presumptuous. Am I beastly enough to wear it? Last year only about 200 people raced , so I will certainly stick out. But then again, I may need my inner Spartan to tackle the race. Decisions, decisions....