Tuesday, December 22, 2009

trail running and loving it


This morning Akitla and I did an easy 3 miles on the dirt trails at Lake Lansing Park North, a beautiful park near our house with 8+ miles of hiking trails through woodlands, marshlands, pine plantations and fields. I started running the trails last summer after my hip injury to lessen the amount of stress put on my joints.

Watching the seasons change at the park has been a fantastic experience. I've enjoyed my snowy winter runs at the park probably more than my hot, humid August runs at the park. Last winter I avoided snow like the plague- I'd run on salted bike lanes at the side of busy roads (and cross my fingers that I wouldn't get hit by a car) to avoid having to run on unshoveled sidewalks. This year, I crave my snowy trail runs. There's something extremely peaceful and meditative about running through snow-covered pines. The hilly terrain is difficult to maneuver in the snow (like running on sand dunes), so I take it slow and enjoy the experience.

I leave you with a picture I took out on the trails. I think you'll see what I mean.

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