Post-Thanksgiving Stillwell trail run

Taking the "More Difficult" path

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.7 miles

Unless you work in retail, the day after Thanksgiving is like an unofficial holiday. Much of the world went shopping for bargains today but I chose to go out in the freezing cold for a trail run at Stillwell Woods. I'm not sure why runners choose to be uncomfortable, but it's a factor in every run. You know you're going to sweat, feel the burn in your legs and (if you did it right) end up both exhausted and depleted.

I thought about that after the first of many close calls at Stillwell this morning. I was running on a muddy trail in 33° weather when my toe caught a root and I nearly lost my footing. I somehow kept upright through that and promised myself I'd pay closer attention to obstructions on the path. Besides the slippery mud, the trails had long sections covered with leaves that hid potential hazards. My Brooks Cascadias provided great protection and traction - far better than any other trail shoes I've owned.

Stillwell was almost empty. I didn't see any mountain bikers until I was taking my last steps leaving the trail head. There was a young couple running briskly toward the woods when I arrived. We crossed paths twice and they gave me big hellos both times. If there were any other runners today, I didn't see them.

Just for fun, I deviated from my normal route a couple of times and encountered some steep terrain. Due to the grade, I actually did better on the uphills than the downhills. One trail had lots of packed sand and many sharp rocks the size of softballs. Once again I was grateful to have the Cascadias that have both a rock plate and a beefy toe guard.

Today's route

I tried to be careful but my toe would occasionally catch something on the path, forcing me to prepare to hit the ground. I was fortunate that I didn't fall once. It would have been a muddy mess. I wasn't aiming for a long workout today and made my way back after I'd covered about three and a half miles. I finished feeling like I'd worked off some of yesterday's calories and the ever changing (but forgiving) surface of the single-track made my legs feel energized.

I'm probably going back to the road tomorrow, but I haven't decided where. Rob's Run is happening at Stillwell on Sunday. I'm sure that would be fun, but I've had my fill of those trails for now.

Conditions not ideal at Stillwell Woods

Tough going along the big muddy

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.25

After a string of indoor workouts, I was ready for an outside run today. The news stations were predicting heavy rains starting mid to late morning and that helped get me out the door early. I quickly dismissed a run around the neighborhood (too dull of a route on an already gray day) and decided to visit the trails at Stillwell instead.

Stillwell's lot was fairly empty when I arrived, and I thought that people might be avoiding the woods and the fields due to the imminent rainstorm. I'm always happy to have the trails to myself and felt excitement as I headed toward my favorite route. Once I took a left off the initial trail that leads to the black trail, I saw that my usually well-groomed paths were frozen and muddy. The packed single track was scored and deeply rutted by mountain bikes.

Due to these conditions, I needed to constantly switch from one trail edge to another because the thawed sections of mud were too unstable. I'm always concerned about tripping on a trail, but in this case it could have resulted in a face full of mud or an injury from the frozen terrain. As I made my way north, I started to think about which section might be free of mud and followed a trail that is usually covered in leaves.

That trail was much more stable, and while it gives way to a sandy section, that was preferable to mud. I was surprised to see some hikers on the trail, as well well as mountain bikers. I was the only runner as far as I could see. I didn't do my usual two loops because the thought of repeating that first muddy mile was unappealing. That gave me the opportunity to follow some different trails that I've somehow avoided over the past year.

Even the better trails had mud and ruts, so after three miles I decided to head back. I'd originally planned another loop around the open field that would have added another mile. When I got close to the trail head, I saw a group of ten mountain bikers coming into the woods. One of them told me that I was very visible (I was wearing my bright orange long sleeve jersey) and I called back, "That's the idea!" As peaceful as it is to run in Stillwell, the danger of being mowed down by a biker is always there.

Stillwell trail run, frozen paths and a near collision

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 3.9 miles

I was hoping to get a trail run in over my last vacation but the timing never worked out. I did manage to cover a lot of miles during my time off, but the only time I traveled to run was the Hangover Fun Run on New Year's Day. I was determined to get back to Stillwell this morning, where I did my first trail run of 2013.

It has been cold all week and today was no different. I dressed for freezing temperatures, including a base layer under my running pants. I was glad to have layers top and bottom when I stepped out of the car at Stillwell Woods to start my run.

The trail head and the main trail leading from it were covered with ice. I needed to step carefully as I made my way to an interior trail. There were a number of mountain bikers getting ready in the parking lot and I wondered how they'd fare on the slick and frozen surface. I never did see a biker on the path today. Perhaps they rethought their workouts after seeing the condition of the trails.

I wore my Helly Hansen Trail Lizards that eat up rough terrain. Their only shortcoming is the lack of a rock plate, which is normally a non-issue. Today it would have been provided great benefits, as the interior trails consisted of mud that was grooved by bike tires and refrozen as hard as rock. I needed to watch the trail closely to avoid slipping on the uneven surface.

About half a mile into the woods, I detected movement behind me. Thinking it might be bikers I moved to my right and soon saw two runners passing me on my left. There was no courtesy "Thank you", which is fine, but I would have liked to know there was a third runner trailing behind them. I had just started to move back to the center when the third runner came along, and we almost collided. People generally say, "On your left!" in those situations but these guys were jerks.

I did my usual loop a couple of times and noticed that, in the short time I'd been running, the sun had started to melt the ice. What had been frozen earth became soft and slippery mud and I needed to adjust for that. I saw a few people out walking with their dogs but no other runners today. I completed my second loop feeling like I'd worked fairly hard, even for a run that didn't quite go four miles.

Overall, it was a decent trail run. My last trail run went poorly (at Caleb Smith) and I appreciated the difference. I'm not sure where I'll run tomorrow, but today I'm happy to have had another great experience in the woods.