Paris Mountain 25K

Ahhh! Paris Mountain. There’s a few mountains in South Carolina that have a little piece of my heart and Paris Mountain is one of them. It’s the place I ran my first 25k last year. We cheered Chris on for his first 50k there, 4 years ago. It’s pretty much the place where a lot has been discovered, for us.
Last year, it was all about survival. I just wanted to show myself I could go further than I thought and I could do harder climbs than I thought. This year, I had a goal in mind. And I trained all summer with that in the front of my mind. I knew I could do it, now I wanted to go in and improve or do it a little better. Each time you do a certain thing, a race, being a spouse, parenting...life experiences...you learn something. You realize your strengths and weaknesses. You see the areas that need a little more focus, or maybe that are good and just need to be maintained. I always leave a goal race trying to soak up the lessons and challenges it presents.
Paris Mountain is a tough course. There’s climbing, rocky terrain, incredibly fun downhill portions and then of course the distance...16 ish miles! But I LOVE it. And I left there feeling super accomplished this year!  I felt like I had really put in the early mornings, the extra strength training, the spin bike, and the nutrition to achieve my goal! I felt SO good for most of the race! I got a little panicked and tired towards the end. Panicked I wasn’t going to meet my goal, but even in that panic I had contentment knowing I went out there and gave it my BEST effort. And I did meet my goal! With 8 minutes to spare, thanks to the little nudges and reminders from my person! When I finished that run, I was on cloud 9! There were climbing places I remember really struggling on last year, and I didn’t! There were some quick down hills that I was fullllll running! I’ve never had much confidence in my feet to handle those parts well, but now I do! I felt amazing at the end of that. I knew, without a doubt, I had given my very best effort and I was proud of that.
The race itself was a perfect fall day! A little drizzle off and on, the colors were starting to show, temp was in the 50s, and of course the company was perfect! Chris and I have races that are his, mine and ours. I don’t run his, I take care of the children and we all sit there and wonder how he does it...I mean 100 miles. Eeek. Mine, he takes care of the kids and brings them to cheer. Ours, we get someone to watch the kids and we do them together! And they are, by far, more tank filling than any fancy dinner or hotel money can buy. The conversation, the car ride, the quick meals after...they are all so perfect! And I cherish every minute of refilling my tank with him, a long trail run and some yummy food! I know the dynamics of our life will continue to change as the kids grow and all that, but that trail time together? Nope! I’m holding on to that forever! We have found a thing we will never stop! There’s sooooo much beauty in the world to see and so much right here under our nose, so for us, we are gonna keep soaking in the beauty, climbing the mountains, sharing it with our kids and with each other because this is absolute LIFE giving for us!
So, thank you, Paris Mountain for once again filling my heart and refocusing my mind. We will be back ❤️