I didn't do all the training I planned, but I discovered joys of trail running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

I didn't get in all of the exercise I had planned for the weekend, but it was still an active and productive weekend none the less.

Saturday

My run went as expected, not a real problem, smooth 30 minutes up and down some neighborhood hills. I did my Sit up test, but then ran out of gas when it came time to do my push ups. But that's okay. And this should be the only weekend that I had to rearrange things for soccer, the rest of the season should be smoother.

I did end up playing a fair amount of drive way basketball, got in a lot of jumping and shooting. So that more than offset the push ups for the most part. It felt good to be out there chasing the kids, and not relying as much on my old slow guy bag of tricks (read cheap shots, fouls etc.).

Sunday

Sunday's Run

Was a lot harder than I expected. I went to the Garden of the Gods with the plan of running the race course. But it was very windy, and the wind was blowing directly at me during the first part of the course, so I changed up and ended up running 5+ miles on the trails in the area. So it wasn't my best run from a speed perspective, or distance, but it was a good one regardless.

I think I understand a little better now when some of my friends rave about trail running versus road runs. It was definitely a different experience. I will probably make that a standard for my long runs from here out. The ups & downs and uneven course have to be better for my training. I know I felt that I had definitely worked my legs harder than normal. I just have to hope that the weather cooperates better.

In summary I didn't do everything I planned, but I was still as active as I hoped to be, and in reality I probably got in a better overall series of workouts than I had planned. And I discovered a new joy, and you can't beat that.