But, two glorious things happened to converge this week: it's staying light out longer, and my mid-week runs are long enough to justify finding a trail. I carefully plotted a route that runs from my local bike trail, to some dirt trail, some single track, and back. It was going to be amaaaazing.
The goal.....
Except that I took a wrong turn somewhere, and I'm not even sure where I missed the turn off to the single track I was hunting for.
Oh well.
It was a good run anyway - plenty of dirt, plenty of hills, plenty of power-hiking up. Hills are hard. Sandy hills are REALLY hard. Dowhills are fun (I'm not joking, for about a mile downhill every single time I glanced at my garmin {a lot} I was sub 7:30, which is stupid fast for me. SO FUN to run fast downhill). I managed to route myself for the last mile to the exact scene of the Spectacular Meltdown at mile 8 of PCRF last May.... and clocked my fastest split of the night at 9:50 (SO FAST... for me on an easy run).
Take THAT, Jeffrey overpass.
8 miles, 1:29:54, which includes stop lights (getting to the trails), stopping to remember how to breathe running uphills, stopping to check my map to see where the hell I ended up.... I told The H 1:30, so. Bam. I wanted to keep it under 12 min pace, considering the hills, so SUCCESS. (Phawk, how creepy are my skeletal hands?!)
Anyway. It was hard. It was fun. It was so pretty. I love the trails. I need to work on hills. I'll do this again next week. It's fascinating to me that all this open space is SO close to me. It never occurred to me that I could.... run there. These trails connect to some of my favorite hiking trails, so... someday, maybe.
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I went to conditioning class this morning. And we replaced pushups, apparently, with wall squats.
Holy HELL, do you know what's hard to do with tired legs?? Fucking wall squats.
Dying.
The end.
How fun! I need to find some trails, I want to feel your joy.
ReplyDeleteOh, wall squats, yuck, yuck, yuck.
Hurray for lighter evenings! Running is so much better in the sun! And your trail running idea looks great. I explored my new area on one of my long runs recently and discovered some great parks and wooded areas - will be following your example and going for a run in the countryside :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good run...the wall squats not so much!
ReplyDeleteI agree that light in the evening is a wonderful thing! I so wish there were trails near me to run on!! Great time. I LOVE wall squats, but I'm crazy!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a beautiful run! I need to find some trails near my house, because I would love to mix up my standard route.
ReplyDeleteHey thanks for reminding me to go and run this place. It's been a while. I use to run it once a week. It *is* pretty. I am also afraid of wild animals. Bunnies scare me sometimes. Maybe we just scare each other.
ReplyDeleteIt will get better. Much, much better. Pretty soon you will get a new sense of direction that will really help you out on trails. Look at everything around you, look at the shape of the hills/mountains. Look behind you to see what the land looks like from all perspectives. Know your foot print, and if running with others, try to memorize their footprints. : )) Happy Trails!
ReplyDeleteps. I've run those trails in your pictures!
You know what's also hard to do with tired legs...running up the "down" escalator. I totally ate it and blamed my tired legs from the morning's run.
ReplyDeleteI love F bombs. :) you had a kickass run. all the crappy mornings and speed work are paying off!
ReplyDeletewow, I would love to have that trail to run on!!! Fab job!
ReplyDeleteIs that Sand Canyon?
ReplyDelete