Sunday, March 17, 2013

Going off road...

A couple of weeks back, sleeping in won out over meeting my team for a scheduled Sunday morning run.  That has happened a few times lately.  I suppose the candle is being burnt at both ends and it catches up with you every once in a while.  Who knows...  Either way, once I wiped the sleep out of my eyes I decided to go hit the trail at Stone Mountain.

One of the bonuses to training with a group is that it has introduced me to routes that I might not have taken on my own.  Take the trail at Stone Mountain Park for example.  I mean, HELLO, I have spent 5 years running loops around that mountain and never once ventured onto the trail.  Once I did, it was true love.

As far as trails go, I would imagine that the one at Stone Mountain might be a good one to try as your first.  It is very well marked (although on the rocky sections it might take you a minute to locate the hash marks) and really how lost could you get knowing that the mountain has a road going all the way around it?  It isn't like you are going to be lost in the wilderness for 40 days.




If you are new to trail running, I would probably get some trail running shoes.  There tend to be a lot of up and down, climbing, crossing streams, etc.  Trail running shoes will give you better grip but also you won't trash your regular running shoes.  I use Inov-8 Trail shoes but there are a lot of brands out there.

You should know too that road running times do not equal trail running times.  It may take me 45 minutes to run 5 miles, it takes me over an hour and some change to do 5 miles on the trail.  There is something kind of freeing about it, just running out there in the woods.  Kind of takes you back to being a kid again.  Assuming you played in the woods a lot as a kid like I did...  I also love that I am able to see sides of the park that I normally wouldn't see if I am just following the paved road.

Hope you all had a great weekend!













 

 

7 comments:

Kate Geisen said...

What great pictures! I LOVE trail running!

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

couldn't agree more. love running the trails near my house versus the paved trail. remember, keep taking the road less traveled. it's much more fun!

ajh said...

Gorgeous pictures. I can see how you love it.

Ransick said...

Beautiful pictures! Love trail running too. It's very relaxing and freeing.

B.o.B. said...

And you're back! Hooray! Gorgeous photos Kdub. :)

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Love the pictures!!

I have gone trail running some this year, I am thinking about giving trail races a shot after my IM

Matthew Smith said...

Jenn and I saw those trails this weekend while we were at Stone Mtn. I can't wait to get out there, especially after hearing how much you like it. Yay!