I don't know if those of you who read this blog grew up with a forest/wooded area anywhere near your house, but I did. When I was a kid, we would go out there and make forts, cut branches and make weapons, carve our names into trees, and run full speed while twigs and branches smacked us in the face.
Today, my wife and I were planning on going to run a 5 mile loop around Valley Forge Park, but by the time she got home from work, the traffic was building up and the drive would have made the run not so worth it. Instead, we ran down to a watershed path that I had been eying up for the last few weeks. I'd seen people turn onto it, but had never been able to see more than a few feet up the path. When we got there after running our first mile, we turned onto the path and found a big open road looking thing... made entirely out of giant rocks. At the end of the road, we found a bridge. In order to cross, we had to go up about 10 steps or so, then down the other side, the road continued ahead, but instead of rocks, it was 2 foot tall grass. Disappointing.
As I started to think that we'd wasted our time, my wife pointed out a trail that went along the river, so we took it.
I can honestly say that I haven't felt like this while working out in a really long time. When we started on the trail, I was behind my wife because it was kind of narrow, not to mention all the mud pits in the middle of the trail. We got into a more open area, so we ran side by side for a few steps because we were talking, and then I don't know what took over, but I took off running. I was leaping over fallen tree trunks, slipping on the mud, blocking tree branches from smacking me in the face, and cutting around corners. Basically, I was running with reckless abandon like I did when I was a kid. I LOVED IT! I think I've found one of my new favorite activities. Trail running. I like not knowing what's around the corner, having to watch my footing so I don't step on a root or a rock. I enjoy leaping over fallen trees. And as always, I love working out with my wife.
We ended up going about 4 miles on the run. Shorter than I had planned, but when we were on the trail, we were really running pretty hard. Also, it's pretty difficult to use mapmyrun.com to map a trail run!
Now I'm going to give a shout-out to some friends of mine who blog as well. They're friends from college who got married a few months before my wife and I and then moved to Wyoming. They're enjoying their active lifestyles out there, and I admire that about them (riding bikes to work, going on hikes, etc.) About a month ago, they gave me a Camelbak hydration system. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a backpack you can fill with water and then drink from a straw that's attached to your shoulder. I can't wait to try this thing out, I'm just waiting to have a longer run to make using it worth cleaning it later. So thanks Jill & Eric! You can click here to check out there blog.
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