Trails are more fun than road

Today I drove over to Historic Latta Plantation in the north part of Mecklenburg County, NC.  I was anxious to get out and run today despite the fact it was below freezing.  There was no wind chill and the sun was shining which helped make it feel a little more comfortable.  I was to do week 9, day 1, of my Couch to 10k program.  I'm actually a session behind where I should be cause of a stomach flu that put me out of commission for a couple days.  I felt about 90% better and had to get back on the program.  Typically I come here with my horses, so I was excited to go over these trails on foot for a change.  So I bundled up, started my playlist, my garmin gps, and off I went for a 71min workout. 

This c210k session consisted as usual of 5min warmup and cooldown.  Run sessions are now stepped up to 7min, done 8 times, with 2 mins walks in between.  Week 8 I ran on the asphalt track at the local middle school.  Running on the track was about as exciting as running on the treadmill only I didn't have a TV to watch.  The hard track took a toll on my feet and ankles as well since I was not use to the surface.  Getting sick actually helped my body recover a bit more from the track.  I need more hard surface training that the treadmill does not provide.  Running on the trails should give more variety and give me more hard surface training.  Here's the map

From the Nature Center where I parked I proceeded to the Hill Trail (see pic above left) which was a nice gravel road.  A short ways down I took a right at the powerlines and ran down a field.  We usually go this way with our horses, but his time they had bushhogged a wide path.  In a way it was more tricky since now there was all the brush stubble to pick around.  I startled several whitetail deer on this trail.  Half a mile down I took a left and went up another powerline trail.  This trail was not mowed.  Instead it was very overgrown and barely a trail, but I picked my way up the next half mile and joined Hill Trail again.  A short way down I took a right on to Connector Trail which had a fair amount of rock hidden under leaves.  This trail met the Cove Trail. The Cove Trail weaved around the northern most part of the preserve.  After another mile it comes to a nice overlook of Mountain Island Lake, which is part of the Catawba River.

Back track a short ways from the overlook and took a left to continue on Cove Trail.  Another half mile up I come to a sign (left) which I was to find out was an understatement.  I also found out why we never ride our horses on this trail.  This section of the trail had some major rockage and most were hidden under the leaves.  At times I was literally jumping from one rock to the other since that was the smoothest line to avoid turning an ankle.  All I kept thinking was, "don't twist your ankle...don't twist your ankle".   It may have been slower going and technical, but man what a blast.  Not to mention time just flew by cause it keeps you on your toes.  The pic to the right does not do the trail justice for what it took to run over it.

The Cove Trail circled back around and I joined up with the Hill Trail again.  Another half mile on this nice gravel road then took a right onto Split Rock Trail.

This was another trail I had never really done on horseback, so adventuring on it for the first time was awesome.  Much like Cove Trail, this trail had quite a few rocks (see left) with the added tree roots for variety.  Split Rock ran along the lake and had several spots where you could go right down to it (see right).  As you can see the sun was starting to set so I was working my way back as my workout wind down.  Split Rock eventually came back out on the main gravel trail and I followed this heading back towards the Nature Center.  I still had to find a bit more trail on the clock so I took a right to run through the Equestrian Center.  From there I went across the main paved road and took the gravel road back around to the Nature Center and by this time my cooldown had just about begun.

So far, this has probably been my favorite session since I began.  Considering I had just come off being pretty sick, I felt good throughout the whole workout.  After running those trails it really gives me a greater appreciation for what I ask of my horses.  Bottom line, whether it be on horseback or on foot, I was meant to run trails.