Longer days call for trail running

Summer is coming and the woods are calling.  Still haven't ventured out to your local trails for a run? In this article, we're taking all of the obstacles that are keeping you from the hitting the woods head-on.

Admittedly, we've all read articles touting the benefits of trail running. We know the effects are multifold: it gives our bodies a much needed break from the constant pounding of the roads, activates and strengthens different muscles in our lower legs, and keeps us safe from those cars whose drivers are often not paying attention to what's on the side of the road (you--running). But for legitimate reasons, lots of us can't quite get ourselves to a trailhead to take advantage of all these benefits.  Let's address some of these obstacles that keep us from hitting the trails and then find some solutions.

Obstacle #1:  I can't find a trail close to me.  

For lots of us, running is our go-to form of exercise because it's fast, predictable, and convenient. Heading out to parts unknown is daunting, but you can easily find a nearby trail by consulting a few sources: 1) your local running store, 2) a local running club 3) our state's Department of Conservation and Recreation website. I'm constantly telling people about my favorite trails, which are all located within four miles of my house and they are in total disbelief.  The trails are all around--you just need to find them.

Obstacle #2:  I don't have a trail map.  

I've done a fair amount of trail running and I'm pretty adamant about running a new trail with map in hand (or pocket). Maps are the best way to ensure that you will find your way in and out of the woods. Sure, smart phones are good, but your map never runs out of battery and never needs a signal. Most trail maps can be downloaded and printed before you head out. You'll want to print in color, as lots of trails are color coded and the trees are marked with painted slash marks to show you the way to go and when to turn. Again, you don't want to rely on your phone as your only source of directions or as you trail map. As runners we know that stuff happens.

Obstacle #3:  I don't want to go alone.  

I understand this. Trail running can be done happily as a solo activity but it is more fun when you can head off with a group or friend.  Again, consult with your local store owners, running clubs, and other outdoor organizations. Our store hosts monthly trail runs throughout the summer.  LL Bean and REI also host outdoor group activities and may know of trail groups. Trail clubs meet up weekly and are eager to host new runners and guests.

Obstacle #4: I don't have trail shoes.  

Here's a little secret: you don't really need trail shoes in the beginning of your outdoor career. If you don't mind getting your road shoes a bit dirty or wet, you can stick with what you have.  If trails become part of your daily or weekly routine, then it's wise to invest in a good pair of shoes made specifically for these conditions. Look for a pair with good traction, a rock plate that protects from the sharp rocks, and an upper made of more durable materials to withstand abrasion and scrapes.  

Obstacle #5: I don't have time.  

Sorry, time machines are hard to come by. Trail running is more time consuming due to the commute to the trailhead. Your pace is usually slower in the woods, too. Trail running, however, can be looked at as an activity where speed is not important, but slowing down for the for the experience is. Your drive to the natural area just might relax you, parking in a wooded peaceful lot will set the tone, and your first few steps down the path will help you to understand that trail running is less about being fast and more about just being.  Hit the trails on a weekend morning, so you won't be concerned about what time the sun is setting. Don't schedule something right after your trail run so that if you do make a wrong turn (or two), you won't be stressed out about being late.

"The clearest way into the Universe is through the forest wilderness," wrote naturalist John Muir. Take a break from your running routine this summer and find the woods. They're not far away, and you don't need any special equipment to try it out. Do bring a map and allow yourself time to enjoy what nature has to offer.

The Borderland State Park Trail Run!

     The weather was perfect this Sunday morning. A cool breeze, light clouds to cover the sun, and the ground was nice and dry. Before our run, I had a cup of coffee and half of a banana to fuel me up. The caffeine in the coffee keeps me energized and awake, while the banana helps with those horrible side stitches. 

     Me, my mom, and our friend all decided to go trail running in the Borderland State Park. From where Charles River Running is located, it took about 20 mins to get to the park, which was in Sharon, MA. Not a bad drive, however, it did cost us $2 to park in the lot. We thought it would be a better idea, for next year, to buy The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) sticker for our car so we could visit these beautiful parks more often. 

     Out of the 18 trails in the park, we chose the Pond Walk which was 2.9 miles. It was a very pleasant run that included sights of ponds, open fields, and great wildlife. There were also many other people enjoying the morning as well. Mountain bikers zooming by, dogs pulling their owners around, and even horses! My all-time favorite animal in the world! We didn't explore the entire park, but I could tell this was a very populated and enjoyable place to be with your friends and family. 

     The trail path was very wide, unlike other trails we have ran on. This was probably because it was meant for many activities like walkers, bikers, horses, etc. The rocks were very loose on the ground as well. There were many ankle rolls and slips running on these trails, so I advise running shoes with good traction. For example the Salomon XR Mission, or for more rugged trails the Salomon Crossmax. Both of these shoes are sold at Charles River Running. 

 

   Can you spot the horses?! 

       At the end of our run, the trail led to the Ames Mansion! This amazing structure is the actual mansion that Blanche Ames and her husband lived in. For more information on the history and the park in general, visit their website here. There are scheduled mansion tours as well!

      In conclusion, this was a very neat place to explore and I deeply enjoyed seeing the mansion and the park around it. Other than the expense, I definitely recommend this place! 

Race Report: Wapak Trail Race, New Ipswich NH

And the story begins like this:  It's a sleepy Saturday afternoon during a holiday weekend.  No one is shopping-- attending cook outs and lounging on the beach, but definitely not dropping the cash in Norwood Center on this day.  I  hear the door bell jingle from my back office perch and the customer is greeted by the awesome Saturday staff member at CRR.  The next thing I hear is "Wow--that's a lot of GU.  Do you have a race in the future?".  Yes, the customer answers "18 mile trail race in NH tomorrow."  And now I am interested, off my seat and walking towards the register to hear more.

Flash forward 16 hours.  Somehow I've convinced my better half that it's a great idea to drive me to New Ipswich NH, watch me disappear into the woods and wait for my eventual reappearance out of said woods in I'm not sure how many hours.  It's 6am and I'm busily gulping down coffee, scrambling eggs and wondering just how I get the black mold out of my CamelBak tubing and mouthpiece.  I needed to run 18 miles regardless this day as the nagging marathon training schedule told me.  Why not spend those miles in the woods, running through fields of wild flowers and song birds?  What the heck does "3000 feet of climbing over 18 miles" really mean anyway?  And what exactly did the race director mean when he wrote "must be in excellent physical condition to enter this race"?  And why is New Hampshire called the granite state?  Not really sure at 6 am and not really caring to give these statements a whole lot of thought.  Denial is a powerful human tool!

So on the way to New Ipswich I am counting the ice cream stands that I will hitting on the way home.  My companion is driving and being such a good sport about this last minute, hair brained idea it almost makes me cry.  And I would cry but I'm getting that feeling in my stomach--that I've made a choice to try something that's way out of my comfort zone.  It's sickening and thrilling at the same time.  It's exhilarating and terrifying and apparently what I need a dose of every six months or so.  All I do know is that endurance events test me in ways that other situations can't.  Maybe I want to see how I will react in a situation where "me" is all I have to rely on.  If I can't figure this out in 18 miles of trail where can I answer the question?  We drive on and we laugh at this silly situation.

Registration is running on my favorite race scale:  completely home-spun, small and friendly.  Twenty dollars gets me a race bib, some used safety pins and two water stops.  Everything else is all me.  I make a visit to at an outhouse, lube up my feet and don the shoes.  I miss the pre-race instructions because I'm chatting with the back on the pack crew that I met just hours ago at the store.  They're packing GU, CamelBaks and pickle juice.  I'm not even kidding.  We are maybe a field of 100 runners, lots of whom are not wearing shirts, bling, or any fancy gear.  Here we go!

Within the first 3 miles of this trail run, I realize that my legs are not in shape for 18 miles of squats.  Three miles into the run, I've only been able to run 1/2 a mile.  The rest has been fast hiking:  steep up and steep down.  Who the freak can run this, I'm thinking to myself.  But the leaders are, like billy goats, leaping from rock to bolder to root to mud.  Amazing, humbling and like nothing I've ever done before. 

At the half way point is a table of water, electrolytes, bananas and really nice, friendly faces.  I love these strangers.  I tell them that and they receive my comments as if it's the most normal thing they've ever heard.  I'm a bit whacked at this point, but I still have wherewith all to realize that I must do an about face and run 9 miles back to the starting point.  Yes, over the 4 peaks who's names I care not to know and over the countless mounds of granite.  It says 2:14 on my watch and I'm wondering if I will need to call a cab to get back home.  I mean, who would wait this long for someone to come out of the woods?

The trip back was what you would think it would be---beautiful, lonely, painful, happy, conflicting, a 2 and 1/2 hour argument with the voice in my head.  I made a silent plea with my better half and a promise to never make him wait this long to see me reappear from the woods.  I made a list of things I am thankful for:  toe bumpers on trail shoes, the fact that your ankles can twist and turn many times before they quit entirely, bright orange salamanders who cheered me up along the way, fellow trail runners who are gracious, kind, oh so humble and supportive, my GPS watch that told me how many miles I had to go with gentle beeps, and life giving WATER!

At 4:44 I emerged from said woods, barely running, to see my better half waiting with a smile, water and potato chips.  No blasting music, no flags, no explosions.  Just the finishers lounging in the grass, a handy water hose, and coolers of WATER :). 

So what's to take away from almost 5 hours on a Sunday in the woods?  It was a test, pure and simple.  We all do this.  We all set ourselves up for a possible failure.  We sign up for a 5K when we haven't exercised since HS gym class.  We enter a 1/2 marathon because our friend talks us into it.  We pledge to complete a charity 26 mile walk to honor a loved one when we haven't recently walked a mile.  We have this in common.  We are willing to take a chance on ourselves.  So if you've gone a while since your last test, I ask you this:  What are you waiting for?

Shoe Review: Salomon XR Mission

Sean again!  Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve shown up for something and you are just not prepared for what’s in front of you?  That’s what trail running can feel like when you try to go out wearing the wrong kind of shoe!  I usually run in a very lightweight trainer from New Balance that’s great for running on pavement through the streets of my hometown, but ends up with me slipping and sliding when I’m in the woods.  Therefore, I was pretty excited when Charlotte offered me the Salomon XR Mission shoe to test out.

            This wasn’t my first rodeo with Salomon products.  They produce a wide range of sports equipment, and their ski gear that I’ve used has served me well.  I had high expectations, then, when I put on the XR Mission’s.  After some getting used to, it met those expectations.  I decided to wear them to a group trail run in June that Charles River Running was doing in Adams Farm in Walpole.  It has a different feel than a lot of conventional running shoes commonly used by runners.  With a much wider base and a more even distribution across the foot, it felt heavier and slightly awkward when I put it on and warmed up in the parking lot.  Once I got on the trails though, things were completely different.  It was like all the rocks, branches, mud, and leaves on the ground weren’t there.  The shoe has amazing stability and I found myself able to focus more on the run, rather than avoiding an uneven patch on the ground.  The feeling of clumsiness went away within the first quarter mile, and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.

            The XR Missions have a couple of great features that add to the solid foundation that they’re (literally) built upon.  The upper part of the shoe is made from a breathable material that never feels tight or harsh on your foot, no matter the kind of sock that you’re using.  Additionally, there are no regular laces on this shoe.  Instead, there’s a simple drawstring that slips back into the shoe when you’re done tightening up.  Nothing bugs me more than stopping to tie my shoe once I’ve hit my groove, so this was a huge relief.  Finally, the color scheme itself just feels right for trail running.  The shoe I tried, and that’s carried in store, is primarily green, with black and yellow trim.  In a time when shoes come in every shade of neon, it’s a refreshing return to normalcy.  Overall, the shoe is a great piece of equipment that’s sure to make a trail runner out of anyone.  Just run with it!

Take it to the trails

This month's Competitor Magazine has a fantastic piece on trail running.  In their article, "Hit the Trails"  the authors provide training tips, gear reviews and even list some trail races.  There's no need to reinvent the "trail running wheel" in this blog post, but what I can provide to you is a handy list of local trails that you may not know about.  I don't know about you, but I head for the trails for tranquility, to give my legs and feet a break from the roads, and to let myself slow down and be mindful of each step I take.  I find myself listening to birds, cursing less (no cars blowing through stop signs as I try to cross the street), and I get to meet lots of friendly dogs out for walks with their owners.  For me, trail running isn't about speed, it's about quality time with my surroundings.  Even in our congested living space of metro Boston, you can easily get to a quiet trail head in no time.  These are spots that make my top 5 list:

1.  Hale Reservation.  This park located at 80 Carby St, in  Westwood, MA  and offers 1,130 acres of woodlands, including four ponds and over twenty miles of trails in Westwood and Dover.  You can run to your hearts content on these miles of technical and scenic trails.  Hale is open to and free to the public.  Their summer hours are 7:30 am to dusk every day.  Interested in racing off road?  Hale hosts their own summer event series.  Note:  trails are mostly single track (trail-speak meaning that the trail isn't wide enough to run side by side with another person or pet) and pretty technical.

2.  Walpole Town Forest.  Located off Washington and South streets, comprising approximately 365 acres, the Walpole Town Forest is a great trail to get you introduced to off road running.  The 2 mile loop is wide, smooth and well maintained--this is the perfect trail for one loop or two.

3.  Lowell Woods.  Here's a little gem of a trail (3 miles) that is literally right in my back yard.  I leave from my house, run a mile to the Lowell Woods trail head located at the back on Hanlon Elementary School in Westwood, run my 3 miles on the trails and head back home. I'm able to log 5.5 miles with three of them on trails and I never have to get in my car!  This mostly single track lollipop loop is fairly technical and offers some short, steep climbs.

4.  Adams Farm.  I happen to love all 365 acres of Adams Farm.  If you have lots of time or just a little, this is the place for you.  Short well maintained trails are waiting at the parking area.  As you get in to the property there are many opportunities to break off from the main trail on to interesting and well marked single track.  This facility is free and open to the public all year round.  The nicest feature:  you can link up to the power line and run miles and miles in either direction.  Cross over the power line and and you get to explore the other side of Adams Farm.  Hungry after your adventure?  Stop in to Bubbling Brook for a cone, just a 1/4 mile away!

Noanet Woodlands.  This park has 17 miles of smooth trails and can be accessed at Caryl Park in Dover.  If you make it all the way to Noanet Peak, you will be treated to a lovely view of the Boston skyline.  If you are a beginning trail runner, this is another good choice, as the trails are smooth as well marked.

In closing, let's remember these safety tips when trail running:  1.  Before you head out, be sure tell someone where you are going and when you plan on coming back.  2.  Slow down and pick up your feet on the trails until your body gets used to the uneven terrain.  3.  Make sure to do a thorough tick check once you get home and out of your running clothes.  4.  Unless you know the area extremely well, it's best to stay on the marked trails.

Have fun, break up your "road only" routine, and get out there!