Sunday, July 01, 2012

Trail Running, through the Seasons

ORN:  Saturday:  21.4 miles, 4:12:07, 10:42/mile, R/W 4/1

It was about a year ago I began doing most of my long runs on our only local off-road trail, the Wabash Heritage Trail.  It's a terrific local resource, extending a full 13 miles from the Tippecanoe Battlefield past downtown and on out to Fort Ouiatenon.  It is home to the eponymous Heritage Trail Marathon, which I ran last October.

I've logged many, many miles on this trail in the past year, Saturday being no different.   One of the really enjoyable parts of trail running is seeing how the seasons change the trail, its vegetation, its runability, the total ethos of the long run.

Here's a visual comparison of the same section (about two miles from the Fort) during all four seasons.  I'll bet you see the same on your trails.

Autumn--October 15, 2011
From Running-General
Winter--January 7, 2012
From Running-General
Spring--May 12, 2012
From Running-General
Summer, June 30, 2012
From Running-General

Enjoy wherever it is you run.  It's a gift to be out. 

Persevere.


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2 comments:

Sarah said...

Neat! I notice the same thing...it's amazing how much Wildwood trail in Forest Park changes with the seasons.

Wes said...

beautimous. I love trails. Especially flat ones. I don't think we have any flat ones around here.