Back on the Trail

I was a tech geek slacker Wednesday evening. I picked up an iPhone on my way home from work and got so involved with activating, adding music, adding contacts, and generally checking the thing out, that I ate up all the time I had for running. had it been sunny and 55 degrees I think I would have run regardless of my new toy but it was 35 and windy so I just stayed home.

I made up for the missed run last night with a hard trip on the trails in the Wissahickon. The route and the run intensity materialized as things progressed as i wasn't sure how I was going to feel at the start. How I felt was great.

After a couple quick miles on the flat and wide Forbidden Drive I made the decision to turn up a trail hill in the park, the kind of hill that would make me wish I hadn't made that decision by the time I reached the top. I've been reluctant to run hard on the trails because of a nagging ankle pain that has left me feeling a little unstable on the rolling, rocky, root covered paths that dominate the Wissahickon.

Things were fine last night and as the run progressed my confidence grew. I was soon pushing up and down the hills, around sharp turns, and leaping fallen trees. God I love this. I hit a kind of runners high halfway through and this carried me through the rest of the run, past the Valley Green Inn, up and out of the park and through Chestnut Hill. I was feeling so good that the last 1/4 mile practically turned into a sprint. A conservative 9.5 miles in 74 minutes.

This evening I leave for a week trip to southern Spain. My running shoes are taking up some of the precious space in my backpack so I hope to get at least a couple runs in but if I don't that is ok too.