Friday, December 17, 2010

Trail Exploration

Feeling 100% better from yesterday, so was raring to go for a trail run from the school after work today. Decided to explore some side trails off the old railroad bed I often run on.

I took the first turnoff a couple of miles into the run, and meandered around on some snowmobile trails for a bit when I took a turn and suddenly encountered an older woman on a horse. I apologized to her if I had startled her or her horse, but apparently no harm done and we chatted for a bit. Turns out we knew some of the same people and I asked what the trails were like ahead. Apparently I was about to hit the top of the ridge and the trail dead ends on the street up there. Crap. Oh well, decided to hit the road and take it down a few tenths of a mile to rejoin the railroad bed so I did just that.

After getting back on the rail trail, I took it down and ventured off on to another side trail. This one was great. Went through some really neat sections of woods and I encountered several moose and deer tracks in one area, but no sightings of any of the beasts. The trail eventually looped back around and rejoined the railroad bed.

I took the railroad bed back down but decided to take another side trail just to see where it goes. It rejoined another road I was familiar with. Might make for a handy road/trail loop at times, but I turned around and backtracked back to the railroad bed and made my way back.

As I was getting close to the school, I spotted some of my students playing pond hockey and stopped to check out their game and chat with them a bit. Looks like fun, might have to give it a whirl sometime. Good run!

Ran 11.1 miles @ 8:30/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 139/162
Mostly trails, a few paved roads.
Very hilly.
Lower 30s to mid 20s, partly cloudy.
Adidas Adizero XT, long pants, fleece pullover, short sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

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