Trail treat

In the interest of time, I do much of my running on paved surfaces. In the winter, as a person who runs after work, this is also done out of necessity. In the summer and fall, when daylight lingers late into the evening, I am able to spend more of my running time on the trails. I very much enjoy running in the woods and across the hayfields between them around here, but the time required to cover a particular distance is always significantly longer than if I do that same distance on paved paths or roads -- never mind the way my Garmin struggles with accuracy under treecover. When the miles get long, I tend to stay away from the trails.

In the winter, my opportunities to run during daylight occur chiefly on the weekends, unless I have magical time off during the work week. I've been trying to maintain Sundays as "long run" days (right now, ~10 miles) which I do on paved surfaces, and Saturdays are always easy recovery days. As long as the weather permits, I prefer to do those on the trails. I simply cannot worry about pace in that environment, so I do not clock-watch and run entirely based on effort, which I keep on the very comfortable side of comfortable. Because it's once-a-week at best right now, trail running has started to feel like a luxurious treat. It is satisfying to cover my distance under the bare tree limbs, navigating roots and rocks partly hidden by leaves; I have to focus my mind on what I'm doing a great deal more than when I'm out turning on the mental treadmill on the path around the park or reservoir. I can listen to more than the tappy-tap of my shoes and the sound of my breathing, which helps me to let go of pace concerns. There is trickling from streams, there is a variety of bird noise, the occasional crashing through underbrush of a deer. The ding! alerting me to a mountainbiker approaching and a "hello" from a hiker. Sometimes I lose focus and end up struggling to stay upright as gravity wants to pull me down after stubbing my foot on a root, or I end up eating the trail, hoping I don't bang up a critical limb as I land. It's an altogether different running experience that I seem to take for granted during the summer months.

It was chilly today, but very sunny and the trails were moderately populated as I ran on them for an hour. It's been a few weeks since I last went through there, so it felt especially liberating to roll up and down those hills. Recent rain had some areas in a state akin to tar pits, but they were small enough to stretch a stride over. There were a few yards in a sheltered spot, always away from direct sunlight, where the muddy track was still frosty and stiff from overnight freezing. It's been a warm winter, only lately dipping to "normal" temperatures.

I could have run longer, but 1) no need to overdo it with tomorrow's "long run" on deck, and 2) there were other afternoon activities to consider. The experience today was exceptionally satisfying, even though I had to wear long pants. I'll keep today's run in mind when a less-pleasant winter day arises.