More New Shoes...and a Trail Run...

So last fall I applied to be a part of the Brooks I.D. program.  The I.D. stands for Inspire Daily.  I am still stunned that they even let me in, but I have worn my Brooks shoes all year, and some of the gear that I got from their pro site at a discount, logged my races on the online community website, and didn't expect anything else from it.

I got an email today that said:

Hey Becky,

Congratulations, you are the OK State Runner Up for the Brooks 2010 ID Race Series! You can expect to receive your Hoodie in the mail soon. The following code can be used on the pro site for one free pair of shoes:
Please place your order before December 31, 2010. If you have any questions please send them to Steve DeKoker at steve.dekoker@brooksrunning.com. Thank you for participating!
Happy running!

Seriously, I actually won something?  I guess the race series awarded points for the number of races and personal records and all that.  I am stunned that I actually placed for anything.

On the other hand, seriously?  I just bought my new shoes a week ago!  Oh well, they had the newer version of the shoes I just bought so I got them.  These have red on them too, so they'll match other things.  Ha!  I am a girl.

The program this year is invitation only, and I haven't received an invitation, so I am going to assume that they don't need me back.  Oh well, it was a nice discount while it lasted, and I got a free pair of shoes and a hoddie is on the way.

Speaking of running, I got up the guts and did a little trail running this weekend.  I am definitely not what you would consider "Outdoorsy" in the least, but I seem to be up for new challenges lately so I said what the heck.  The fact that it's too cold for bugs or snakes didn't hurt the situation either.  We ended up doing 9 miles total, and I must say it was lots of fun.  The miles seem to fly by when you are staring at the ground or the feet directly in front of you so you won't trip and fall.  The trees offer a nice break from the cold wind and I managed to stay on my feet the whole time.

I have new respect for the trail runners.  As a road runner, I know my stride, but when you are running on the trails it's completely different.  Kinda felt like learning to run for the first time.  My only complaint is that the trails aren't as marked as I would have liked them to be.  Kim and I got turned around at the end, but luckily there were lots of people in the group we were out there with and we got pointed in the right direction.  We made it through all 9 miles with not falls and no search parties.  Well we did have one fall, and I guess one guy ran into a tree on his bike.  I am not as comfortable as I would like on my bike on the road, there's no way I would take one on those trails.

My first trail race is coming up in February so we'll hit the trails some more between now and then, but I'm still a road runner!  I am really excited to sigh up for the Rock N Roll half marathon in Dallas in March, it's part of the Komen Marathon for the Cure series.  But more on that later.