LEAVE THE ROAD. TAKE THE TRAILS.
That was written on an older gentleman’s shirt as we passed each other on the trail.
Before I noticed the shirt, I was about 4 miles in when a guy running towards me offered me an encouraging, “Good job,” as I was making my way through a hillier section.
Soon afterwards, I was running gently down a hill when a woman who was flying up with such ease told me, “You’re doing great!”
How come I don’t get these same shouts of encouragement from other runners whenever I run on the road?
Sometimes I exchange a wave or smile but most of the time when I’m running on the road, people are zoned into their own runs, and after 11 years of incorporating trail running with the road that’s been my experience and observation at least.
And then I saw the man’s shirt. LEAVE THE ROAD. TAKE THE TRAILS.
I’m probably not his ideal target audience with the shirt since I was already there, but I enjoy being on the trails especially for marathon training and so I think I’ll keep taking them.
P. S.
There was a jump in mileage during Week 5 up to 27.96 miles and I’m trying not to get hung up on that 0.04 remaining to hit an even 28 but I was sooo close.
July Miles: 89.13