Sometimes I get so caught up in my love of trails that I start to poo poo my old friend the road. The roads are where I first learned to run. Where I slunk out in the predawn hours to stumble through an 18 minute mile walk/run, laugh at my minor victories that seemed major, and roads are where I realized that if I can't tell if I'm approaching a human or a trashcan and I don't want to wear my glasses, I should get contacts.... I gripe about roads because they make my feet hurt and my shins cry and cars are dangerous and blah blah blah.
But today I had plans at noon and I couldn't wait for ye old sunlight to break to get on the trails. So I talked two friends into meeting me a 7 for a little predawn running. Always a bit creepy and always a bit of adventure, but so much better with friends. We had a nice four miles and then EUREKA! I remembered something I love about road running.... RUNNING THROUGH SUNRISE!!! Beautiful sunrise that brought us to meet more friends for more running.
Then I remembered something that I love/hate about road running too.... You don't walk up every hill like trails... ok that's how I "run" trails, maybe it's not how everyone else does it.... I like to call it my "stop and smell the roses god these hills are giving me a butt cramp trail pace"...But here I was running up all the hills huffing and puffing and thinking, "I should slow down, this is too fast. Is this too fast?" It's not too fast, it's running on roads, I can just go faster on roads. DUH.
So I guess that road running has it's place. A lovely place that makes me push myself in a different way, see beautiful sunrises and feel fast (it's all relative). It's not a morning spent frolicking in the woods, but it's still some good stuff.
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