Welcome to the Weekly Rundown. Recapping this week’s off-season training adventures.  It was finally trail camp weekend and I got to see my tiny idea from earlier in the summer in action.  I can’t even remember what I did the first half of the week because all my energy was aimed at the event.  Linking up with hosts Deborah and Kim.

Earlier this summer I had an idea.  What if EDGE put on a trail camp? And, what if we got more people out onto trails? Could we put Chicago on the trail running map?!  From tiny idea, to a giddy reality.  After weeks of planning, the EDGE Coaches and I headed out to Bullfrog Lake for Trail Camp on Saturday morning.  I was nervous (understatement) but excited (also an understatement).  Would everyone have a good time?  What would they think of the activities? Would we have enough food? How would the weather hold up?  I kept grounding myself with our main goals for the weekend:  Get people into nature through trail running, and build community.

Saturday 10/26

Athletes arrived around 8:30-9am to check in.  We had a whole range of attendees – from completely new to trail, to veteran ultra runners.  Some had never run more than 5 miles, some were returning from injury, and a some had just ended marathon season.  Most were EDGE members already, but there were also a good mix of November Project friends, 3Run2 runners, and other Chicago runners who had heard about it through social media.  It was a great mix!

After check in, introductions, and getting outfitted with Nike Trail Pegasus shoes, we set off for the first workshops of the day.  Half of the group started with learning trail technique with Coach Robyn.  The other half had a Q&A about trail running with Coach Katie and I.  After about 45 minutes we switched groups.

Sitting around for the Q&A was COLD!  I was wearing two layers of pants, two jackets AND a winter coat.  But the athletes seemed to enjoy getting to ask questions and discuss their worries about trail running.  After the workshops wrapped, we headed back to the cabins for lunch as the rain started.

The rain was just misty at first and not terribly heavy.  But coupled with the wind it was chiiiiiilly!  Robyn and I had picked up catered sandwiches and veggies from Whole Foods, and Health Warrior donated some snack bars. We also had tons of chips and cookies from Costco.  It was a pretty chilly picnic, but we made it work.

As the rain started to increase to a drizzle, we decided to start the first Team Challenge of the trail camp weekend early.  The radar did not look promising and we wanted to get the athletes moving again.  I had a blast putting this activity together, and was super excited to start.  It was a mix of a scavenger hunt, decoding, map reading and team bonding.  The goal of the challenge was to expose people to the different trails out in the Palos system, get them comfortable navigating trail maps. and meet new people.

The trail system at Palos is marked with numbered posts.  Each team got a set of clues that would lead them to a certain post.  They’d have to run together as a team to the various locations, taking pictures at the posts as they went  PLOT TWIST: The clues were in riddles.  For example, one stop was “The number of tubs at EDGE.”  The teams were all blended in terms of trail abilities and members or non-members of EDGE.   Everyone seemed to love it, even with the rain!

After the challenge, everyone had free time until dinner.  Most took it as a chance to settle into their cabins and dry out.  We had planned dinner as a cookout, but the rain continued.  Not just a light rain anymore, but straight up a heavy downpour.  High winds.  Flash food warnings.  Temperatures continuing to hover around 40 degrees.  It was miserable out.

That brought up the problem of grilling.  There was no way we could use the camp grill, it was out in the open.  Luckily, Brian had packed a small grill the night before.  He planned to use the camp grill for the turkey burgers and the small grill for the vegan burgers.  Instead, we set up that mini grill on the tiny porch of a cabin, trying to shelter it as much as possible.

All the campers and coaches piled inside the cabin to hang out and have dinner inside.  The cabins are unheated, but with everyone inside it got toasty real quick.  Brian wore a rain suit, and every time he opened the door to bring in food, he looked like a ship captain coming below deck from a typhoon.  But it worked perfectly!

Meanwhile, in the cabins, we just hung out, enjoying each other’s company.  We decided to cancel our night time run due to the weather.  Instead we played Cards Against Humanity and eventually attempted to make s’mores on the grill.  It was still pouring and we didn’t want to hunt for sticks.  They weren’t too bad, minus the semi-burnt bottom graham crackers…

Sunday 10/27

It rained until at least 3 am (I know because had to pee in the middle of the night and got soaked) but FINALLY the rain had stopped.   Day two began with a sunrise run.  We separated into leveled experience for this run – Trail Ninjas and Trail Virgins.  I led the ninjas along two of my favorite trails.  While we got off to a muddy start (admittedly, I thought about cutting the run short), the trails opened up into a glorious canopy of colors and mostly dry trails.

We ended just as Coach Matt returned with the Trail Virgin group.  Perfect timing!  Everyone came into camp smiling and laughing and exhilarated from the run.  Just what I hoped for.  The other coaches had prepared breakfast while we were out: bagels (toasted on the grill) with peanut butter or cream cheese, oatmeal, fruit, and left over burger patties from the cookout.  Also hot water for tea and instant coffee.  The day was so much warmer, and we hung by the fire pit enjoying the sunshine.

We ended trail camp weekend with the final Team Challenge.  Trail running is a time for adults to play outside, so we wanted to end with some play time.  The game was an idea I borrowed from November Project- a cross between steal the bacon and capture the flag.  For this game, each team had a bucket, with a bunch of candy in the middle of a grassy field.  You could either run to the middle, take one piece of candy, and return to put it in your bucket.  OR run all the way across to the other team’s bucket, take TWO pieces of candy, and run all the way back to your bucket.  The teams got super into it!  It was hilarious to watch them get so competitive and race back and forth across the field.

After returning to camp, we wrapped up with some final words.  Robyn asked everyone to go around and say their one word big takeaway from the weekend.   “Community.” “Fun.” “Exhilarated.” “Excited for more.” “Family.”  I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude and fulfillment.  I feel really lucky to be a part of a team that supports these big crazy ideas!

And that’s a wrap on the EDGE Trail Camp weekend!  We did it!  I can’t believe that it’s over.  We learned a LOT and experienced some hiccups, but overall, it seems like it was a huge success.  I am exhausted but feel so incredibly grateful and invigorated from the weekend.  It’s such a wonderful experience to see an idea grow from start to finish.  I will be smiling for the rest of the week!

How was your week?  Have you ever planned a big event or attended a trail camp?  Let’s stay in touch!  Follow me on Instagram or Facebook for more food/fitness related posts.  

Happy running,

Becca