I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day weekend! Let us not forget the reason for the holiday and the sacrifice made by so many individuals and their families. Freedom doesn’t come free.

I thought this weekend would be a good time to share my recent trail run at Manassas National Battlefield Park. The weekend before last I was up at my dad’s house for my little sister, Rachaels, college graduation. On Saturday morning I was able to sneak away for a short trail run at the battlefield. It was something I had wanted to do for awhile!

It was already fairly crowded in the parking area when I arrived that morning, although that was to be expected because it was a gorgeous morning. Parking was free, and I wandered into the visitor’s center to get a park map. The employee there gave me a few pointers on following the trail and sent me on my way. My day began on Henry Hill, at the spot where General Thomas J. Jackson earned the name “Stonewall.”

His nickname was given to him by General Barnard Elliott Bee. While attempting to rally the shattered Confederates for a final push that ultimately caused the Union forces to retreat he said “Form, form. There stands Jackson like a stone wall; Rally behind the Virginians.”

From there I began my trek around the First Manassass Trail, just over 5 miles in length. I ran past some cannons, pictured above, that mark the primary battle lines where the Union and Conferederate armies squared off on a warm July day in 1861. Not long after that, the trail led into the woods.

I meandered through the woods for the first mile or so. It was fairly crowded near the Visitor’s Center and the main attractions. But the further down the trail I went the quieter it got. I saw a couple of horseback riders and a hiker here or there, but that was about it for awhile.

Around 1.5 miles I ran on a long boardwalk section through a marsh area. For whatever reason, I always love running across bridges and boardwalks, so I thought this section was really neat.

I then arrived at Stone Bridge, where Union forces advanced in an attempt to distract the Confederate army from their main advance further upstream.

From here, the trail meandered through the woods along Bull Run stream. I enjoyed views of Bull Run and wildflowers. As I reached the halfway point I encountered a few short, but steep, climbs as the trail wound up through the woods and back through farm fields.

Overall, the run was not super hilly. It was primarily rolling hills with a few short, steep climbs about halfway through, with one long hill towards the end.

Just before mile 4, I was running through a field and came to an intersection. The trail wasn’t marked, so I took my best guess based on the map and following the loop in a counterclockwise direction and turned right. My guess turned out to be wrong, though, and after running down a hill I arrived at a parking area. I pulled out my map, but had a hard time matching up the four different trails I could see leaving the parking lot to the two I saw marked on the map. Finally, I realized my mistake and saw I should have turned left at the intersection. After losing 5-10 minutes, I made my way back uphill and back to what I now realized was Matthews Hill. The cannons lined up here show the Union’s artillery positions, pointing across the battlefield toward the distant Henry Hill where I had begun my run.

Matthews Hill also overlooks Stone House, which was the next point of interest on my tour. On any other day, I would have stopped to walk through the house. But on this day, I was starting to run short on time for Rachael’s graduation party (thanks to getting lost) so I had to keep moving.

I ran up the long Henry Hill as my watch hit 5 miles, and then ran by the final point of interest along the First Manassas Trail – Henry House. The cannons near Henry House mark the spot where fierce artillery clashes took place. Henry House (which can be seen in the distance below) was caught in the middle. An elderly woman named Judith Carter Henry refused to evacuate her home during the battle, and was killed by cannon fire. She is buried nearby.

Just shy of 5.5 miles, I arrived back at the Visitor’s Center to conclude my run. Manassas Battlefield was a really neat place to run, and I’d love to explore there again. There is another trail, Second Manassas Trail, that is just over 6 miles long. But that will have to wait for another day. On this day, I had to hurry home to celebrate Rachael’s graduation!

Today’s post is part of the Weekly Wrap link up, hosted by Tricia @MissSippiPiddlin’ and Holly @HoHo Runs. Be sure to check out their blogs and see who else is linking up this week!

Have you ever gotten lost while running/hiking/biking on trails?
Do you enjoy historical sites and tours?

Do you ever get asked why you run? For me, it’s a hard question to answer. There are a multitude of reasons why I run – some simple, some complicated. But one of the things I love most about running is the escape it provides.

When I’m out on a run, I can use that time to think about anything that’s bothering me, or I can think about nothing at all. I can have the busiest day, but when I get out there on the trails time ceases to matter, if only for those miles. I may have to rush off the second the run ends, but that little break is all I need. I’ve recently come up with a term for the time I spend running on trails: Western Time.

The term Western Time was inspired by this song with the same title. It has nothing to do with geography. To me, it’s more of a state of being. It’s a time when time doesn’t matter. The world has become such a busy place, and it’s important for all of us to find an activity which gives us that escape. A little Western Time is good for the soul.

Where do you find your ‘Western Time’?

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you won the lottery? I’m not talking about some nominal amount. I’m talking the big Powerball jackpot. The one that sends people who don’t normally play the lottery to gas stations in throngs to stand in line and buy a ticket.

If I won the jackpot, I’d take things slow. I don’t think I would buy some grand house or a bunch of expensive things. Although Barry and I would probably find some land somewhere and build our own house. I hope that I would manage my winnings wisely to ensure a comfortable life (there would definitely be a team of professionals helping me here…. some kind of estate planner and an accountant). I’d pay off debts and make annual charitable donations. I would not work anymore… unless I wanted to. But it wouldn’t be about earning a living anymore.

I’d have the freedom to do what I want. That would definitely include traveling the country (something Barry and I always talk about), and eventually traveling the world. I’d spend more time with family and I’d probably also hike the Appalachian Trail. In short, I would live my life.

This post is part of Debbie’s Wednesday Word link up. This week’s word is freedom. Click on the button below to see who else is joining in and to link up with us!

What would you do if you won the lottery?
Do you play the lottery?  I bought a scratcher when I turned 18, but that’s it.

Call me crazy, but I went and ran a 10K trail race the weekend after Ragnar, on May 7 (I seem to have this thing for running challenging 10K’s the weekend after an ultra). The race wasn’t too far away and I figured if I was going to be out running trails may as well do it with others instead of solo. Plus it was a Mountain Junkies race, and Josh and Gina are the best. I was nowhere near recovered from Ragnar and this was solely a training run. I even fought the urge to race someone at the end – as luck would have it she beat me by less than a minute and snagged third in our age group. Ah well, it was for the best. Here’s my race recap, as part of the Weekly Wrap linkup, hosted by Tricia and Holly.

I hit the road to head up to Roanoke around 7:15 AM and arrived at Explore Park off of the Blue Ridge Parkway a little before 8:30. Parking was tight, but I found a spot. I wasn’t actually registered for the race, yet, and with the 9 AM start I was worried I wouldn’t have time to register get back to my car and then get back to the start line (Partly because I didn’t actually know where the start line was. Spoiler alert: It was basically next to my car!). So I took only what I needed from my car, stashed my race shirt at headquarters, and put the change from my registration fee in my sports bra where it would stay for the race.

I had time to hit the porta johns and then it was time for the pre-race prep talk pep talk (aka the pre-race meeting, but that’s not as fun to say). This was not the normal location for this race, so there were a few extra instructions including a heads up about a really sketchy bridge towards the end.

I talked to a few friends, met a few new people, and then it was time to head over towards the start. The half marathoners started a little after 9 and 10 minutes later the 10K followed. Our first three tenths of a mile were uphill. Overall, the race course was much hillier than I expected. The only time I have run at this park was a 5K in the snow and I basically blocked that out. 🙂

The first three miles of this race blur together for me. There were rolling hills and I ran the first mile and a half or so before taking a walk break. My legs and body felt super tired, still, from Ragnar. I also felt like my Achilles were really tight and my calves were on fire. But it was good practice running on tired legs, and I don’t think the distance was longer than what I should be doing.

Around mile 4, we dropped down to run along the river. The downhill was a little sketchy, so I took it easy going down it. It felt good to run along the flat section, although it felt pretty hot here with the sun shining down on us. Don’t get me wrong, though, it was a gorgeous day to be outside and be running trails.

The final two miles had a fair amount of uphill (see elevation chart above) and my legs were really feeling it. My right hamstring has been bothering me lately, ever since the North Face 50K. It doesn’t really hurt per se, but it’s been telling me it no longer cares to be attached to my hip/glute area anymore. I’ve been putting more focus on stretching it gently and doing some foam rolling, though, which I think is helping.

Somewhere through this uphill section I came to the bridge we had been warned about during the pre-race prep talk pep talk, and Josh wasn’t kidding. It was the sketchiest bridge I’ve ever run across. His advice had been to run across the nails of the bridge, which attached the rotten boards to telephone poles (he promised the telephone poles would not break). I heeded his advice and made it across in one piece.

Close to the finish we ran through a really neat cabin area of the park. I’m pretty sure we ran through here in the snow, too, but like I said I blocked it out. I could hear the finish line in the distance and knew I was getting close.

We had one final little uphill and then I crossed the finish line – 6.2 miles in 1:25:22. Probably my slowest 10K, but it was definitely a good amount of time spent on my feet while already tired. Good training for things to come.

The drive to and from the race on the Blue Ridge Parkway was gorgeous, too. I took advantage of the beautiful day and drove up Roanoke Mountain on the way home for some views.

Have you ever run an impromptu race or do you always plan them in advance?

This is the aftermath and some final thoughts from Ragnar Relay in Richmond (April 29-30). In case you missed my actual race recaps, you can find leg 1 HERE, leg 2 HERE, and leg 3 HERE.

After we finished running and got our official team photo, there was a flurry of packing up. It was a fun weekend, but it had been a long event and we were all ready to wrap up our time there. Barry and my dad helped me take down my tent and get everything packed up. Luckily, Bill had gotten a ride over to our RV campsite with Debbie’s stuff, and he was able to come back and pick me up with all of my stuff. He gave Deb and me a ride back over to the campground side of the park while dad and Barry walked through the woods to meet us there.

We unloaded everything from Bill and Deb’s vehicle, and then chatted with them for a bit before saying goodbye. Barry and I would be staying another night in the state park, along with Dad and Robin (who had an adjacent campsite). I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, a good meal, and a good night’s rest.

Unfortunately, two out of three of those did not happen. The hot water was kind of hit or miss at the bathhouses in the park, and I had to endure an ice cold shower. It was really a testament to how much I wanted that shower, because I think standing in that water was harder than running Ragnar. 😉

We had a delicious meal (hamburgers, salad, and fries) and then I collapsed in bed around 8:30. I slept terribly, though, which I think was due to being over tired. I woke up a lot throughout the night and finally got up around 8 the next morning. We walked the dogs a lot on Sunday morning and I think that really helped my legs start to recover from Ragnar. On the sleep front, it took me nearly a week to recover. That’s one of the main reasons I think this was my last Ragnar.

One thing is for sure, we really lucked out weather-wise during Ragnar. It rained on and off throughout the week leading up to the event, and there was a big thunderstorm on Thursday night at the park. It also rained really hard again Saturday night and again on Sunday morning. But from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon we had good weather, apart from some really light rain early Saturday morning (like 1 AM early). It doesn’t get much better than that.

So Ragnar number 3 is in the books. I’ve now run a Ragnar road relay, a Ragnar trail relay on a non-ultra team, and a Ragnar trail relay on an ultra team. All three were great experiences. They were tough, I had to face down some fears, and I accomplished a feat that at times did not seem possible. In the end, it’s a great bonding experience. You’ll walk away with new friends, fun stories, and incredible memories.

Have you ever run a relay event? If not, is it something you are interested in?