Back to Twin Brook

After taking a few weeks off from running at Twin Brooks on Tuesday nights I was really looking forward to tonight's run, especially since this was my first evening run since the clocks changed and I knew I wouldn't need a headlamp to navigate the trails. I was a bit late getting out of work and arrived right at 6:00 to see Jim and Chuck waiting and Ellie anxiously circling. Right behind me was Trail Monster newbie Colleen who finally, on her third attempt, was able to join us for a run.

We decided to give Colleen the grand tour of Twin Brook by covering virtually all of the trails and even headed over to Val Halla golf course to tack on a few extra miles with a big lollipop loop. After a rough stretch on the dirt road leading to the woods I was surprised to find most of the trails in good condition for running. There were quite a few small patches of ice dotted throughout, but luckily I was wearing my screw shoes and didn't have any trouble. Unfortunately the others had to do a little extra work to weave around the slick spots.


The trails at Val Halla were a bit more work than those at TB since they don't get groomed, but the snowmobile and (some type of) ATV traffic that it gets added for some interesting variety. The collapsed concrete bridge that Emma and I discovered a few weeks ago was still collapsed (not surprisingly, once they go down these things usually stay down) but is was easily crossable. It will be interesting to see when/how this bridge gets replaced.

All in all a very enjoyable run with a pretty good sunset. Feels like spring is right around the corner!

time: 1:09:27
distance: 7.74 miles
pace: 8:58
heart rate: 153/189

** I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT EVEN THOUGH I REFERRED TO COLLEEN AS A "NEWBIE" THAT ONLY MEANS THAT SHE'S NEW TO RUNNING WITH US, COLLEEN IS AN ACCOMPLISHED TRAIL RUNNER, PROVEN BY THE FACT THAT SHE FINISHED ALMOST AN HOUR AHEAD OF ME AT THE STONE CAT 50 MILE TRAIL RACE LAST YEAR **