trails made for running
Today I had a great run. The contrast to yesterday’s hellacious run was extremely marked. I again drove down to the Valley and ran on the bridle trail. Those who don’t run on concrete won’t understand, but the packed dirt (with some stones here and there) of the bridle trail is like candy for your legs. The soreness in my knees from pounding concrete sidewalks instantly goes away when I run on the bridle trail; even my calves don’t hurt. I just have to make certain I wear trail shoes. Although the bridle trail I run on is a far cry from a technical trail, being mostly packed dirt and flat, it does have some uneveness to it. For me, running it in a neutral pair of road shoes like my Wave Riders seems to result in ankle pain. Plus, I feel every little rock and stone and I’m currently nursing a sore sesamoid bone. My trail shoes are great — I can run the bridle trail without pain AND my sesamoid doesn’t even hurt like it normally does at about mile 5 of a run on concrete.
I love trail running not only because its easy on the legs, but also on the eyes. Instead of garbage like yesterday I was treated to pileated woodpeckers. Mallard ducks. Flying Canada geese. Wood ducks. Cardinals. Blue jays. A pair of white-tail deer splashing across the river. And its easy on the nose too. Rather than my nostrils being bombarded and assaulted by garbage and (worse) the garbage truck, today I enjoyed the smell of earth and shale and the river. Even the occasional horse dropping didn’t bother me — horse droppings are way way preferable to garbage!
So today’s run was good, and I ended up doing the second half even a full minute and a half faster than the first half. Maybe I am not in such horrendous shape after all …
Oh, and even though it was only 35 degrees, I wore shorts. Wearing shorts makes me feel infinitely better. (I passed several runners today, but I was the only one in shorts.)
Life was good today.