It begins...

So. This is my first blog. The title is inspired by my uncles outfit for the last run we did. I wish I had taken a picture since I can't describe it effectively. Just envision a giant blueberry bouncing along the trail. Enough said. I'm not much of a writer, but since hardly anyone will read this I'm not too worried about the quality. I apologize to those that do. It will mainly serve as a running journal I can look back on. I started running in 2008. My uncle Forrest signed up for the Ogden Marathon so I decided I would give it a try. I probably ran less than 20 miles for training(I didn't enjoy running back then). I think the only thing that saved me from completely self-destructing during the race was hiking. I got out at least a couple times a week and the hikes usually included a decent elevation gain. I finished the marathon in 3:47:23. The result was much better than I deserved. It would be my downfall for the following year. So in 2009 I decided to run in the marathon again. I figured since I hardly trained the previous year I didn't need to train much again. I was wrong. By the halfway point my legs were already hurting. I probably should have dropped out there but I just kept on going. If only I wasn't so stubborn. The next 13 miles were very difficult. I was cramping frequently and every step was a struggle my way to the finish. I finished in 4:12:32. After that debacle I was done with running.  Later that year my cousin B.J. told me about the trail running he started doing. He invited me on a run up to Lewis Peak(naturally he was late) so I reluctantly accepted. I was hooked. We started running together on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for our shorter runs during the week and ended up running Lewis Peak then down to Pineview Reservoir for a lot of our Saturday mornings. Since then I haven't looked back. I ran the Mountain View Trail Half Marathon out of Antelope Island in October of '09 for my first trail race.

It was much more enjoyable than running on the roads. Jim Skaggs does a great job with all the races he puts on and this was no exception. I guess that's enough for this post, I'll recap my running experiences from 2010 next time.