I got an early run in today on the trail near my house. There were heavy rains last night, so it was a nice, muddy and wet run.
I feel fortunate that I'm still able to run at good clip, and that I have no injuries (knock on wood). One thing that may or may not make a difference is that now I take the winters completely off from running. I use these three months or so to rejuvenate for the spring.
I have to say I enjoy running on trails so much compared to running on pavement. It would be tough to ever go back to road running. Trails are so much more relaxing and peaceful.
On a semi-related note, I ran before breakfast this morning, so it was a fasted run. One thing I've noticed as I've gotten a little older is that running fasted is a key to it being a good run. If I have food in my stomach, it never seems to feel right.
Back in my 20s, I never noticed how eating before a run or not made any difference. But now I can tell, so I try to run fasted when possible.
Great thoughts!
I usually only run trails, and in a fasted state now. It really has change the way I think/plan/perform on my runs. I no longer join races, or train for distance, pace, or PRs. I often find my self stopped for a while to check out the surroundings, or sprinting on an undulating section at breakneck speeds. I also have become very interested in tracking and what creatures were there before me. It’s opened a whole world of pleasure in the outdoors. I believe I changed because of one question, why do I run? I don’t think running for weight loss or PRs is a good reason. I run because it’s fun to run in the woods!
Rob