trail running

So, I took a stab at it yesterday out of necessity - I wanted to get a run in but was kind of on a mountain waiting on my boyfriend's mt. biking race, so I just figured i'd make the most of where I was at.  It was a lot of fun except for the climbing.  :)  I was without my inhaler and unfamiliar with the trails (like did they GO anywhere - and of course, I kept running into the bike race route, which I didn't want to run on).

Anyway, other than getting myself lost in the woods, I thought it was a great thing to work on...and there's a 3.4 mile trail race in about 7 or 8 weeks that I figured I'd take a shot at.  Anything special I should know about this sport?  I'm not going to race it for time, just want to enjoy the scenary and the workout, but other than "don't trip", things i should look out for?

Bears...don't trip and watch out for bears..   

i've only done a couple of these things, but i definitely had a better time mentally when i didn't worry about pace/time, every trail run will be different depending on course/eleveation gain etc, so comparing them doesn't really work well (or comparing against road running).  i would also suggest wearing light gloves (or some old bike gloves if it is really hot out), i took a couple of spills that would have been much worse if i wasn't wearing gloves.  i also noticed that i was sore in different places like my glutes because of the more side-to-side nature of running on trails and avoiding obstacles.

today it is CALVES.  ouch.  :)

watch out...bears like those too :)

I've only done a couple of these but be sure to watch out for animals & reptiles! Seriously, I almost stepped on a snake (lol). It was harmless but still scary. keep an eye out.