I had to get rid of some of my pent up energy after work, and with no long run tomorrow, I figured a nice trail run was in order. Sent Susan P. to Costco for the vital weekend supplies, namely toilet paper and dog food, and we were off! (Please look at the map to get an idea of what the trails are like)

I had been thinking of all the fun trails that Vinai K. gets to run on and I also know that Bastian I. want to do the same. These are simular trails to Tom R. and I ran on last week.

The dogs and I started at Theo Worth, the same trails that Gavin P. and I did a couple of weeks ago and now I figured out how to do them all in one big loop (very exciting).

I was quite surprised when mile one clicked by at a 9:18 pace. As soon as the paws hit the dirt we were off to the races. Had one minor worry when a SQUIRREL was silly enough to walk in front of the dogs.. seriously what was it thinking?

Shortly after mile one I could tell the dogs were finally settling down and by 1.28 they had stopped pulling so hard. We came across a group of kids mountain biking and I passed them, which then my mind said to me.. "I should really go faster incase they try to pass you back" So we picked it up again. I would have to say to Sugarmagnolia70 :: this is not the type of running you want to do with your dog(s) especially when you are on tight little trails, ducking trees, jumping rocks and all of a sudden SQUIRREL!!.. Really, how many squirrels could there possibly be in the woods?

By mile 2 we hit the black diamond trail (See video) https://vimeo.com/46183452 and everything slowed WAY down. Tight turns and obstacles galore. Now that I think of it, the kids never did pass me again. Everyone was tired by 3 miles (including said human) and much to the dogs chagrin we went across the path, past more mountain bikers (seriously they have wheels, I only have 10 feet... get it... 10 feet? 2x4+2 for the math people) One naughty bike without the helmet (thought of Sherrie R. )

The doggies and I gave it one last sprint and I could see my two pups thinking "He says we'll go for a walk, now we have 3 miles of torturous run... SQUIRREL!!!" (Dogs really don't think for very long.

Got back onto the blacktop trail and back to the car with a sub 9min mile.. WOW...lots of excitement.

Final thoughts, if I could run on trails I would do it every day. My shins are a little angry with me but I have two days until my long run and it's the weekend.

1 9:17.7 1.00 9:18
2 9:13.8 1.00 9:14
3 10:34.5 1.00 10:35
4 4:17.1 0.51 8:27