December 22, 2014
2.7 miles at Upper Campus, mostly on the XC trails to the east.December 24, 2014
First day of winter break, though it wasn't very wintry. In fact, the temperature was in the 50s and Upper Campus was like a bog in places. I did 2.5 miles in dense fog. Starting from the parking lot, I was going to head to the eastern XC trails via the powerline trailhead, but there was a large and uncontained dog on the trail ahead. The dogs around there tend to be friendly, but can be annoying when one is trying to run (as I found out the other week. So I retraced my steps and got to the XC trails through the other trailhead, at the parking lot. From there, I headed along the trail. The whole area was swathed in a dense fog and visibility was only a couple hundred yards. It was a rather remarkable experience to run through that. I eventually got to Arbutus Park Road and followed the trail along that, occasionally going through patches of tall grass. The trail eventually left the side of Arbutus Park Road and wound back towards the main trails and from there back to the soccer fields. I didn't see the dog again.December 25, 2014
Christmas Day. I did 6 miles at the Stewardship Trails in surprisingly
pleasant weather. It was almost like spring. I followed the power line
right-of-way up the ridge like I did last week. After that difficult
climb, I went down into the valley on the Black Bear Trail, somehow
managing to keep my balance on the shale that made up the path. From the
Black Bear Trail, I scrambled up the Squirrel Trail to the top of the
ridge. I looked at the scenery as I usually do. Then I continued onward
along the top of the ridge. From the radio tower, there was an easy
half-mile descent to the parking lot. From there, I headed over to the
Rattlesnake Trail. I've been running at the Stewardship Trails at least
half a dozen times, but only been on that trail once before. It was
steep and had a lot of uneven rocks and leaves. The climb was definitely
harder than the climb up the Black Bear Trail (the way I went down
anyway) and perhaps rivals the climb up the powerline right-of-way. At
the base of the hill, I passed a family of hikers, who were also running
for a brief period. At the top of the hill, the trail meandered around
and I briefly explored a small unpaved road before running into a Posted
sign. Shortly afterwards, I began descending. After a while, I came out
into the open in a clearing that the powerlines run through. There was a
powerline right-of-way trail heading up he mountain, so I decided to
check it out. It was rocky and climbed very steeply for about a quarter
of a mile amidst yellow-brown grass and purplish rocks. Eventually, I
got to the top and had a look at the spectacular view. The access road
continued for a while before starting to descend again and at that point
I turned around. It could be interesting to explore it again. Upon
returning to the Rattlesnake Trail, I continued descending along that
until I got to Powder Mill Road, which led back to the trailhead. I
still had a little ways to go, so I followed a trail through the woods
to a spot about a quarter of a mile up the powerline right-of-way (the
first one, that is) and then back down that to Powder Mill Road.
Time: 55:38. Pace: 9:16/mile. My fastest mile, the third mile, was in 8:28. One or two of the other miles were in the mid to high 8s, but the rest were all over 9:00 if I'm not mistaken. To be expected, considering the terrain.
Time: 55:38. Pace: 9:16/mile. My fastest mile, the third mile, was in 8:28. One or two of the other miles were in the mid to high 8s, but the rest were all over 9:00 if I'm not mistaken. To be expected, considering the terrain.
December 26, 2014
2.7 on Upper Campus. Around the soccer field (no Hospital Hill loop this time) and then over to the eastern XC trail, around that, and back to the parking lot. I'd write more, but it's already Wednesday and I'm trying to hurry up with this.December 27, 2014
5 miles at the Briar Creek Lake Park, a system of trails around the Briar Creek Reservoir (link to WP). I haven't run there in three years and was looking forward to it, but it turned out to be a disappointment. Not a lot of trails. Still, I could to a quick 3-mile run there on occasion, when I'm bored senseless of Upper Campus.From the parking lot at the west end of the lake, I followed a rather soggy trail along the side of the lake and along a dam on the lake's east side. I did some hillwork on the dam, sprinting up at top speed. It took eight seconds to go about eighty feet. After leaving the dam behind, I wandered around some fields and rolling hills
to the south of the lake, at one point crossing a covered bridge. Eventually, I returned to the dam before returning once more to the trails and heading back to where I started.
My time was 39:48 and my pace was 7:57/mile. Unusually slow considering that it was new terrain, but then again, it was uninspiring. My first three miles were 7:36, 8:21, and 8:00.
December 28, 2014
5.9 miles at the Stewardship Trails in late afternoon. Very hilly course; I did well over 10s. Part of the route was on a continuation of the powerline right-of-way I discovered on Thursday. A section of that was to steep and rocky to run up, so I powerwalked it. I finished just before dark.Wish I could write more, but I should've published this two or three days ago.
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