I have decided on the fall marathon.

With reluctance, I gave up on the Indianapolis Marathon for this year and gravitated back to Monumental. So I'm registered for that and also for...duh duh DUUUH...the Tecumseh Trail Marathon, about one month later. Should be very excite! I will plan on doing the Knobstone Trail Half on the weekend before Monumental, treating it as my final long run. Since I'm hoping to do most of my long runs on the trails this fall, that should work out. Fingers crossed for no twisted ankles.

I did yet another trail race this past weekend. This one was in the DINO series, so it was a 15K. It took place in Brown County State Park, which, like many other trail choices in the area, is close to my house. We got a big group together of people in my running club and caravaned over there, where we had a great time cheering for each other and disrupting the awards. It is seriously so much more fun to do a race when lots of people with the same shirt on are doing it. It reminds me of cross country.

The trail itself was beautiful. I seriously need to get myself a park pass and get the heck out there more often. I ran a little under 1:21, which I was very pleased with. Word is that this route is closer to 10 miles than 15K. Sounds good to me! That netted me third in my age group in a very competitive field.

The great thing about having a team around is sharing in their triumphs. Tons of people got age group awards and there was lots of accompanying celebration. And our slow and steady crew finished under a power arch. 

I've had nothing but good experience running trails this year, even with the distance getting up toward 20 miles. Registering for the trail marathon was really only a matter of time. Now if only I could just run trails every day...