Taking The Trail

According to the website, www.runtothefinish.com: “Updated 2021: A lot more blogs have disappeared and in an interesting twist many of the running blogs that remain informational are all written by men. “ This statement has inspired me to research running blogs written by women and to share 5 of my favorites with you. Obviously, I’m not providing an exhaustive list. You may want to visit the blog above and read the article: Top Running Blogs: A Comprehensive List of Who’s…

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My favorite trail is an obscure path in the woods. It is not heavily trafficked. It’s just a little trail that I find magical and it speaks to me. Whenever I hike this trail, I find awesome wildlife, flowers, and something new to look at. Like the John Muir quote above, hiking this trail is like going home. I’ve always seen the woods as my church, my therapy, and my playground. I know that everyone has their own personal beliefs…

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Yesterday I was determined to run at least 6 miles on a trail. Up until then, 5 miles was the farthest I have gone (recently– when I was in Highschool I was able to run much more). So, I searched on All Trails for a trail that would allow me to run at least 6 miles with the least amount of difficulty. I found the Warrior Park Trail which was a 10 mile loop. Sounded good. I could run as…

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I’d rather be hiking in the woods. However, since it was 95 degrees outside, I decided that the gym would be the better choice. Yesterday, I ran a very sweaty 5 miles outside and it was torture. Your health needs to be forefront in your mind and sometimes it means you need to give into the elements. Today, on my training schedule, I was supposed to run “3 miles easy.” Running a quarter of a mile outside today would have…

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This will be a short one. I just started trail running and my gear just consists of the necessities. Really, as long as you have a way to hydrate and a good pair of shoes, that’s all you need to start trail running. I’m slowly adding to the list so that the experience will be that much better. Here’s what I have so far: Hydration backpack: My goal was to find the best hydration pack for the lowest price. I…

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No, I didn’t get lost this time (surprise, surprise). Today, I attempted Laurel Run Trail a second time and I planned to kill it. The weather was beautiful, I was feeling good, and, this time, I knew where I was going. All signs pointed to yes. Remembering how terrible the hill was at the beginning, I decided to walk it as a warm up. Much better. The moment I began running though, I didn’t feel so good. My legs were…

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So, I am (very loosely) following a training schedule found on the internet. When I found it, I exuberantly wrote it down word for word in my notebook. I’m thinking that this is the perfect training schedule and I will follow it to the best of my ability. That lasted three days (as you can see in the pic above). I tend to be a perfectionist, but over the years I have realized that this is a very restrictive way…

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“Two roads diverged in a wood and I…” I took the wrong one and got lost! Thank God for the AllTrails app. Keep in mind, this is only my second week training as a future ultra runner. Today I had to run 4 miles and I decided to take a trail I had never been on before (Laurel Run at Laurel Run Park in Kingsport, TN). I looked it up on AllTrails and it was exactly 4 miles out and…

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