This is a "bring over" thread from CR. It started out as a home for new trail runners who were tired of the whole "newbie" wording. I am trying to entice my frequent posters from CR who transferred to Active to come here. In the meantime, for any of you new to the trails or running, feel free to join in on the talk. If any of you viewing this are old hats at trail running, we are always willing to take in and absorb your sage advice.

I ran trails a lot in college, but got out of it for years and stuck to the roads when I lived in the middle of a city. This past summer I sponsored a race series on a "trail" (a gravel path in the middle of said city) and one of the runners invited me to run with his group - I've been doing trails at least once or twice per week (if not more) all summer and autumn - and now that winter is here I'm still getting out there, I'm just working harder. Most of my trail skills came back pretty quick, but training with guys that race 100 mile races has given me a new respect for it. They convinced me to run my first real trail race at a 50k distance this autumn, and it was really fun despite being almost entirely alone for over 3 hours.

Hello girlfriend. Glad you made it here. Gregolowe here. Holy Moly, you have a blog! Why didn't you say so?

Dude - It was in my signature block over on CR. You just didn't pay attention, did you?? tsk, tsk My last trail run was last weekend, and after an absolutely beautifully fantastic run, my friend and I came around the corner to the parking lot, only to find that both of the driver side windows on my car had been busted out. #$%@*! Long story short - I'm glad we finally got to the end of that particular trail because we won't be going back. Which totally sucks, 'cause it was just unbelievably gorgeous. Right smack in the middle of an ancient redwood grove. We kept stopping to listen - - and there was no sound, no birds, nothing. The silence pressing on the ears. Incredible. Probably the most perfect trail I've ever run on. Oh well . . . Anyhoo - no trails this weekend for me since I have family coming into town, but my friend and I plan on trying a new one next week. Happy Trail Running to Ya'll!!

Slow traffic with the holidays I guess. Drove back from inlaws in southern NJ last night. Went for an hour long run through my little town of Ambler, Pa. The streets were quiet and empty, with all the christmas lights up and every one inside. A full moon and crisp, clear air made for a serene holiday run. Nice solitude. I ran 5 miles at a heart rate of 136. Very relaxing and invigorating. I'm going to hit a new state park this evening for a two hour run. Can't wait! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmans.

9 miles in 3:04. We had a blast! We started at the Prairie Creek Campground and ran to the ocean, as opposed to in the opposite direction, which we did last time. I didn't take my camera 'cause I didn't want to chance it getting soaked and ruined. Ended up being a smart move, 'cause it rained pretty good on us. The trees helped dissipate it somewhat, but we were both pretty wet when we were done, and my pack is soaked through. We had a major storm here about a month ago, and it uprooted quite a few trees along the trail. About the first mile of the trail there's been so much work done to move trees out of the way (big redwoods), that the ground is pretty well ate up and MU-DDY! Some treacherous, slippery footing, but loads of fun. I've always tried to keep my long runs at a slow, easy pace, but Karen has always had a tendency to be a speed demon. She got a heart rate monitor awhile back, and between that and her following my lead, we've slowed down considerably, trying to keep her heart rate in the 140-145 range. It's amazing how much better we both feel going slower. We only saw 3 people on the trail - scared the crap out of one guy when we popped around a corner running at him. Didn't see any elk on the trail, but saw poop signs that they'd been there. Once we were done, we changed clothes and sat in the car with the heater going eating some nice, hot soup. Yum! On the drive home, we saw 6 bull elk. One had a HUGE rack. We have a couple of large groups of Roosevelt Elk in our area, and there are a couple of places on the road that you can usually get a good view of them. On the drive home, we saw the remains of a terrible wreck. Looked like a full size truck had come around the corner too fast, slid into the path of a Ryder truck, which hit it in the cab, and a vehicle (like a Bronco) slid up under the back of the Ryder to its windshield. The people in the truck were killed. The bodies hadn't been removed yet, and there were blankets draped over the passenger and driver side of the truck. Looked like the people from the Ryder and Bronco had been taken to the hospital. Karen and I both looked at each other and voiced the same thought: If we hadn't spent about 45 minutes in the parking lot when we were done running . . . . Kind of a sobering end to a really great morning. So now I get to work on my transcription so I'll be done for the weekend. Have a great one!

Hi Nothing! Hey - I started a new thread for January. Later!