When I discovered running trails was a thing, that was when I truly fell in love with running. I used to exclusively run on trails. It's weird that I've spent much of the last 6 months running around a flat track. I know it has a purpose. I'm trying to improve my aerobic fitness and I think it's working. However, when I have those runs when I'm back out on the trails, I remember why it is that I started running in the first place. When I'm out there, in the woods, listening to the birds and hearing my breath and the sounds of my footsteps, I don't ever have the desire to listen to music or podcasts. I just feel so at home being out there, leaping over logs, dodging rocks and roots and moving my body with the trail. My favorite has always been downhill running. There's something about the bounding motion, the uneven steps, the need to have razor sharp focus and bombing down a sight line, that really excites me. It's also just fun to let gravity take over and run fast. Or what feels fast.
Many of the runners I know are not too keen on trails. They worry that they will sprain an ankle, or trip and fall, get muddy, or get lost in the woods. I think that's part of the journey of becoming a trail runner. I've been lost many times, completely turned around, but it was kind of fun trying to find my way around. I've also wiped out many times and I think that's also part of the whole experience. It's a reminder that in order to run the trails, you need to pay attention and not let the mind drift away from the trail. Running trails is a time that is so pure because you can't think about anything else. Just focus a few yards ahead of you and find the gaps to place your feet and just keep moving. You also never know what the trails will throw at you. You can go one day and it's a mud-fest, then go the next day and the ground is covered in ice or frozen mud. It teaches you to be tough, to take what's given to you and to deal with it. Another reason I love the trails is because I feel like I can take my time. I have never felt to need to try to run fast on the trails. The uphills are humbling and because I love being out in nature, I'm never in a rush to finish up the run.
This week, I signed up for my first real race since the Princeton Half Marathon in November of 2019. The race is part of the Valley Trail Series and I'm super excited to check out the trails up in the Palisades. I had actually looked at exploring the Palisades this past summer, but never got around to it. I'll be running the 12 miler. I'm psyched that I'll be there with Annie, who will be running the 6 miler and Aaron, who will be running the 12 miler. Annie and I had our first training run today and it was so much fun running the local trails at Mountain Lakes. Mountain Lakes is still hands down, my favorite place to run in the area and I'm super lucky that it's runnable from my house. It'll also be the perfect place to train given the elevation gain we'll see at the race. We have 4 weeks left to prepare and I think we'll be ready. I'm looking forward to running at least one long training run that includes running through Mountain Lakes and linking up to Woodfield Reservation. If I'm feeling strong, I'll also go do a couple of runs over at Sourland Mountain. That first mile up is no joke and the trail is super technical in some sections. So many damn rocks. I still can't believe that I exclusively trained over there for my first trail race back in 2017. I'll continue the MAF training, but now that I have potentially a couple of trail races on the calendar, I can justify running 2-3 days a week on trails. After our run, Annie showed me some post and pre run stretches. If we can get our act together, we'll take some video of the stretches for another post.
If you're a local and want some intel on getting around on our local trails, please feel free to reach out. Although, I still feel like the best way to learn your way around the trails is to get out there and get lost.
One of those crisp, perfect fall days at Mountain Lakes along the carriage road
Splashing in muddy puddles heading up to Devil's Cave
Watching the sunrise at Sourland Mountain never gets old
This was a strange one. I tripped and fell running uphill and landed on a rock. Took awhile to heal up. A training run I'll never forget.
Snowy trails that I ran in PA last February while the rest of the family was chilling back at Kalahari
On that same snowy run, I spotted this bald eagle taking flight over a frozen lake
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