A little taste of trail running

This Saturday I ventures to the Battle Road Trail along with my friends the Sue(s). By venture, I mean hopping in the car and driving for 10 minutes - my kind of drive! I have not run there since last Fall, and was thrilled that the gals were up for a little change of scenery. I was not thrilled with getting up at 6:20 for it. In the end, it was well worth it.

The Battle Road Trail is a 5.5 mile trail in Lexington, Lincoln and Concord that marks the path taken by the British soldiers on their way from Boston to Concord as part of the first battle of the American Revolution. Did I lose you already? There are markers along the path that tell the stories about the battles, the politics and individual stories of people who lived in the area. The trail is smooth and has mild to moderate rolling hills. It provides the means to combine running with history, or get lost in the beauty of the views and the smell of fresh air. Here are a couple of pictures that I stole from a website. Note to self: need to bring my camera withme once in a while.


We had a glorious run. It was our first run together since the marathon, and it was nice to share stories about recovery, future plans, and post marathon impressions. We decided to take it easy and enjoy the run and the views. The weather was perfect, not too warm, with a slight breeze. I loved to feel the trail under my feet, and my knees were happy about that too. I always find that the softness of the trails slows down my pace as my feet stay in contact with the ground longer and my stride does not have the "bounciness" I am used to when I run on the road. I stopped running on hills since the marathon and the little hills on this trail got me breathing heavy at times in spite of a somewhat slower pace than I am used to for this distance.
I am planning on doing some hill work this summer, prior to starting training for Baystate marathon, and hopefully some trail races too. Back at home my legs were happy to jump into the icebath before heading out for a relaxed swim with my family. What a great morning!

Stats: 10 miles, 8:24 pace (1 h, 24 minutes), first 5 miles 8:30 (mostly downhill), last 5 miles 8:18 (mostly uphill).