No, I didn’t get lost this time (surprise, surprise). Today, I attempted Laurel Run Trail a second time and I planned to kill it. The weather was beautiful, I was feeling good, and, this time, I knew where I was going. All signs pointed to yes. Remembering how terrible the hill was at the beginning, I decided to walk it as a warm up. Much better. The moment I began running though, I didn’t feel so good. My legs were stiff, my breathing became labored right away, and the trail just seemed so much longer. I stopped to walk a few times. I didn’t understand what was going on. Why did the actual workout seem so much easier on Tuesday despite getting lost? I thought about it. I came to the conclusion that being lost was such a distraction that the run and my performance were the last thing on my mind. My focus was on finding my way. It reminds me of how, in real life, we can get so wrapped up on what is going on around us that we lose focus on what is going on inside us. We ignore our own feelings and just do what it takes to satisfy everyone else. Sometimes, it’s not a good feeling to focus inward. Maybe we’re actually suffering inside. I certainly didn’t like the feeling of exhaustion that came over me today. However, It made me think about the reasons why I might be feeling that way. I realized that I did a really hard workout yesterday and today was actually supposed to be more of a rest day. I also remembered that I forgot to stretch before working out and that’s probably why I’m so stiff. The weather was beautiful today, but it was much hotter than it was on Tuesday. There were reasons for my pain. I’m glad that I was able to analyze what was going on with me because I can take that information and make changes to improve my next trail running experience. If things seem to be going wrong in life, taking a minute to check in with yourself may allow you to improve your experience. Just something to think about.