Yesterday I got up early and did a 2.5 mile trail run. Unlike last year, I didn’t see anyone I knew, not even the coworker who had e-mailed me the day before to say she was doing the 2.5 mile walk (she e-mailed me again this morning to say she decided at the last minute not to go—good thing I only waited around for about a half an hour after I finished and not until everyone from all the races finished). I think the colder than usual weather might have contributed to a lower turnout. The other two times I’ve done this race, I’ve been comfortable in shorts and a long sleeved shirt; this year I wore pants, a long sleeved shirt, and, for the first part of the race, gloves and a fleece hat. I took a different approach to warming up than I did for last month’s frowny face 5K, doing a lot more walking and far fewer reps of my PT exercises. Whether that made the difference or whether it was running mostly on gravel and dirt instead of paved streets (and over slightly less distance), I’m not sure, but I definitely had less pain during this race than in the last one. Because it was a trail run, I did not have to suffer the indignity of being passed by people pushing strollers, but I did have a couple of dogs on leashes blow by me. During my walk breaks, I also traded places a couple times with a senior male power walker wearing pantyhose under his shorts (I wouldn’t have noticed the pantyhose except he had a couple of runs in them). I finished in 28:54, for a per mile pace of 11:33. That’s not as fast as last year, but still better than the first year I ran it, so I’m okay with it.