Because I have three major trail races coming up this year I decided I better start getting more acclimated to terrain. So after joining Upper Midwest Trail Runners association, I hooked up with a local group that trains in the general vicinity of where I live. This morning I got up at the crack of dawn to hit the trails and meet some new folks.

I arrived at Elm Creek Park shortly before 7am, but I had been awake for what seemed like forever. It was almost like race day jitters. I was shortly joined by the first of the runners to arrive, who had already been running around in the dark for an hour. Two more gentlemen showed up and we started out. The original plan had been to run the mountain bike trails at this park, but the guy who had been there earliest said that they were pretty iced over so we decided to hit the large horse trail loop around the park. This made for a great run as the horse trails were mostly dirt with just a little bit of ice and snow left to navigate.

We started out at a reasonable pace for me and the daylight slowly broke over the eastern horizon. This trail, although nothing like Superior Hiking Trail, was a bit more of a challenge than the regular paved trails that I ran dozens of times last year. There were some really long steep climbs that showed me that I’m going to need to work a bit harder this year. By about mile 6 (of the 9 planned) I was feeling pretty frazzled, so I bailed at a spot where I knew I could get back to my car and managed to finish out with 7.2 miles. Despite having to bail early, I really enjoyed running these trails and running with this crew of people. They were really laid back and had a ton of experience running ultras.

What today showed me is that there’s a few things I need to work on. First, I know I was still hurting a bit from installing my water softener. I think I tweaked my lower back slightly so I need to make sure I stretch that out, and maybe consider a few more visits to the Chiropractor.

Second, I need to fix my screw shoes. I had one particular screw that was poking me in a really painful way when I stepped on a rock. I was a little zealous in how many screws I put in my shoes so I need to pull a couple out to avoid that situation in the future. I know that this pain was another one of the reasons I was ready to call it early today.

Third, I need to get my weekly mileage back up to where it should be. Last year I was hitting 25-35 miles per week at the height of training. The guys I was running with today run 30+ every week like it was nothing.  So far this year I’ve hit 14 miles in a week as my high. Even though I’m OK skipping a run now and then, I need to not do that too often so that I can keep on track.

Finally, I think I need to hit the trails more often. I’m actually considering making these Saturday morning trail runs my weekly long run, as it will be good training for the trail races I’ll be doing. As long as I get in a few 10 mile runs on pavement, I should be able to translate it over to road marathons as well, of which I have one coming up in June.

So it’s back to work for the new year, and I’m excited about trails. Today was a beautiful day to be out there running, occasionally seeing wildlife and enjoying some challenging terrain. I think I’ll try to make it back as often as I can.