on running afowl

One of the most enjoyable things about running, I find, is exploring a new trail or path. By now there isn’t much left to explore within a 25 mile radius of home, so I only really get the chance to do it when I travel.

Unfortunately, travel also often brings with it social or professional obligations that interefere with my running schedule. But I do my best to fit miles in when and where I can, if possible along a new route.

These past few days in D.C., for instance, I explored the Mt. Vernon Trail in two directions, along with the Custis Trail, the Four Mile Run Trail, and a bit of the W&OD Trail. So different than my normal routes. A few weeks ago I found some new trails in the city where I went to high school. This summer I ran all over Brier Island.

I don’t always get the same sense of exploration during marathons. Yes, I still like running a new route, but doing it with so many other people, having no choice of which direction to go, and limitations imposed on courses as a result of rules, local conditions, or racers’ needs sometimes detracts from the experience of running somewhere new.

At Disney, for example, it was frequently so crowded I couldn’t look around and enjoy the sights. In the Quad Cities, organizers’ efforts to make sure the course was certified meant the inclusion of an uninspiring out and back right before the finish line. For all the misery of Grandma’s this year, by contrast, the point-to-point nature of the course and the room to move around that I enjoyed thanks to starting near the front made exploring the lakeshore a great experience.

So between now and Des Moines I’ll be a bit bored with my routes. Hopefully, though, Sunday will bring not only a fun race but a great time exploring the city.