2.5-Mile Trail Run Painless if You Walk Most of it

Photo by Mike Bitton
This is the Lacamas Lake Heritage Trail. It's about a 5-minute drive from my house.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

This afternoon I went to Lacamas Lake near my home to go for a trail run. There's a trail along the south side of Lacamas Lake called the Heritage Trail. It's about three miles long, so about six the way most runners do it for an "out-and-back."

For a few months now, I've been using the eliptical trainer at the gym for 40 minutes at a time. I figured this trail run would be pretty much the same, but kept my expectations realistic. I would try to run for five or ten minutes, then take a walking break. I ended up running for about 15 minutes, at which time I arrived a the 1.25 mile marker. I turned around and walked for a while, then ran for a minute and walked for a minute, ran for a minute, walked for a minute, until I got back to my car. The whole thing took about 40 minutes.

I'm a lot more comfortable running on a trail than I am on a track, or even the sidewalk or a paved road. Running on pavement feels like punishment. Running on a trail feels like freedom.

There's a 5K race at Lacamas Lake coming up on Memorial Day. I will enter, and with all the training I intend to put in, I will likely beat my previous personal record in the 5K of about 42 minutes. Really, I don't care so much about records or winning. I just like the way I feel about an hour after I finish a run. I feel like I can do anything!