On the trails

Next weekend, I am running a 25K with Molly on trails in a park reserve in the 'burbs. I signed up for it basically minutes after my Sabino Canyon trail adventure in Arizona, for an extra dose of fun to kick off my spring and summer running schedule.  Trail running is a totally different animal from road running, one that I have explored very minimally for all of the road running I've done. Trail running, to me, is definitely not about finish times and mile splits.  I interpret it as wild and messy and full of adventure - and getting to hang out in the great outdoors.

Molly has done much more of this than I have, and I am pumped to run the 25K next weekend with her.  She suggested that we hit some trails this weekend to wake up our trail running muscles. We headed to Theodore Wirth Park, on the western edge of Minneapolis, which is awesome for cross-country skiing and running (and golf, too). At times it can feel like you are absolutely in the middle of nowhere, when you're really about 10 minutes out of the heart of downtown Minneapolis.

For an hour and a half, we ran around the trails. I kept saying, "This feels like playing outside!" Instead of Running At Varying Speeds, we were Scampering and Jumping and Rushing (and yes, Shuffling sometimes).  Oof!  It was such fun. It was a perfect spring morning, the park's trees were magnificent, and it smelled so good out there.

I hope that this is just the start of many trail running adventures. More details to come after the race next weekend!