I signed up for the Park City Trail Series months ago because I thought it looked like fun and I wanted to check out some new places to run. The first race in the series was a 5k. I haven't run very consistently since Ogden so I decided to use this race as a springboard to start consistent training again. I warmed up for a mile on the trails and my breathing was very labored despite a very slow pace. I forgot how tough running at 6700 feet is for me! I really didn't have any expectations or goals for this race at all. Based on the warmup, I thought I would be lucky to break 30 minutes! The start was very narrow with 250+ people packed into a chute the width of a narrow jeep road. Surprisingly, it spread out quickly and I was able to get into a nice running rhythm although my breathing was again very labored and would remain that way the whole time. Garmin split for Mile 1 was 8:17. Much faster than I expected. I slowed to an 8:47 pace for the second mile. The third mile was in 8:31 and I closed in 7:27 pace for the final .2 miles. Cooled down for another mile. This was a nice race. The trails were basically smooth, wide dirt with only gradual ups and downs. I think they would be great trails to mountain bike given my (lack of) bike handling skills. With as little as I've run lately, I'm pretty happy with how this went. I'm looking forward to the 10k on July 7. | 