Over the past few weeks, I have started to do my weekend long runs on trails.  I had previously been doing them at my local park, by running loops on the roads around the lake. 

This road route was effective from a training perspective, but it was beginning to get tedious.  With my races for the year cancelled, I decided to try a long run on trails.  I had avoiding doing this before, because I was afraid of injuring myself by rolling an ankle or something. The last thing you need, during a big build to an Ironman race, is an injury.

My first trail run was a few weeks ago in Pittsburgh and today I ran for two and half hours at a state recreation area in Michigan, called Yankee Springs.  It was a really fun adventure.  My wife and daughter dropped me off in the middle of the woods at a trail head, and I just started running.  I had a rough idea of where I wanted to run, but basically I just went exploring.

The trail network in the park was well marked and I ended up finding a nice mountain bike trail to run on.  It consisted of rolling hills that passed by a few lakes.  The soil was really sandy in nature, which meant the trail was dry and soft.  The woods were quiet and peaceful, with only the occasional bird calling.  I saw only three mountain bikers in two and half hours.

The time flew by and before I knew it my run was over.  It had been a really relaxing, easy paced run and I can’t wait to go run trails again.