Black Friday Trail Run

Black Friday and I decided to head down to the park for a long-ish trail run. I say long because I don't think I've done a run that lasted over an hour in about 3 months. I took a meandering root starting from Northwestern Ave and then cut over to the eastern side of the park at Bells Mill Rd. I made my way all the way down to Valley Green, where I cut back over and immediately went back up into the trails just after the Inn. There are two entrances near Valley Green. One is just before Valley Green Rd, which leads down to Forbidden Drive from Ridge Ave. This is the normal trail I take. The next trail is just after the Inn. These two entrances can't be more than a quarter mile apart, but they can easily add 1.5-2 miles onto a run.

It was later in the afternoon and except for a few hikers and mountain bikers, I don't think I saw too many people out. I've never mastered the art of running the early morning, probably remnants of a collegiate rowing career. 6AM on the water every morning in Philadelphia in nothing but spandex destroys your desire to be an early riser. But I'd say late afternoon runs in the fall/winter can be even better. Despite having the run loom over your head like ominous storm clouds, late afternoon runs offer the chance to catch the waning rays of sunlight before dropping below the treeline and a chance to run into a few deer along the way. Something I've done almost literally on a few occasions.

On this particular occasion, I decided to head out without my iPod for some "back to nature" running, and mostly because I had just read on article listing the many benefits of meditative running. According to the article, many recreational modern runners abhor the constant physical reminders of running: labored breathing, sore leg muscles, etc. Our minds turn to any other distraction to avoid thinking about running, which can easily be music. But this author suggests that by focusing on breathing, physical sensations, and our surroundings and ridding our minds of any extraneous thoughts, that our bodies will achieve a higher sense of fulfillment from running. It can allow the mind to re-charge itself. Hopefully, this individual will rediscover the joys of running.

I tried this technique with little success, but I would imagine that the mind needs practice in this area. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable run and I'll give this a try again in the future.

Not sure about mileage, maybe 9 in about 84 minutes.