Next thing you know I'll be eating granola and wearing burkenstocks

Reservoir Trail

Orange blazes. 5.2 miles. Average hiking time 3.5 hours. This trail encircles the north, middle and south reservoirs and the open water can be seen from many sites (the reservoirs are for drinking water, so access to them is prohibited). A moderate to difficult hike.

Yesterday I tried the woods again. Last time had me wheezing for air and running around in a tight circle for 15 minutes before I gave up and ran for the familiar sidewalks of my hometown. This time I had a fantastic run. I went for a different entrance into the woods and found a well-marked trail with a well-marked distance that was perfect. I breathed free and easy and felt like a gazelle bounding through the woods. This is a real trail, I thought. This isn't one of those fire trails that real trail runners scoff at. I'm really trail running. This is fun! With the sure-footedness of a mountain goat I pranced over jagged rocks poking their pointy heads out of the dirt, over tree roots that swelled out of the ground underfoot, over little log and plank bridges that bounced and shook underfoot, off craggy rock outcroppings that had me leaping off treacherous 8-inch drops. Maybe it was because the terrain kept me from running too fast, maybe it was because the temperature had dropped, and maybe it was because I'm finally getting my aerobic capacity back, but I was breathing free and easy and my heart felt like it was pumping blood to my muscles and not just futily fluttering away in my chest. I basked in the enjoyment of being in real nature.

And that feeling lasted a little while...

..until I leapt off a rock, landed on some uneven ground filled with spiky rocks sticking up out of the ground at weird angles, and my ankle exploded. I have bad ankles. This could be from when I used to inline skate 3 hours a day over rough pavement that would jostle my ankles like a thousand tiny Louise Woodwards. It could be from too many reckless trail runs in road shoes. It could be from that night that I hiked 11 hours in the dark over rough terrain and relied on my ankles to catch me any time I stepped on something I wasn't expecting. Maybe it's genetic. I don't know why I have bad ankles, but I know that I can rotate them and crack them every morning like an old lady and that they hurt when I walk or run on anything uneven, especially lately. So every time I stepped on a root, a rock, or anything uneven and my ankles had to lean either this way or that, a burning, aching awfulness spread through my ankles, feet and shins.

But here I was out here in the middle of nature, and like hell I was going to stop because of some bitchy ankles which burned and ached every time I stepped on something weird. I tripped over a tree root that almost sent me summersaulting over pointy rocks and pine needles. When it happened again about 15 minutes later I started thinking about how exciting it would be if I came home bloody and covered in dirt and pine needles and got to brag about how I ran all the way home bleeding like a warrior. (Un)Fortunately I did not fall, and when I got home all I was covered with was dead gnats which had gotten caught in my sweat.

When I found my way back out into civilization after only getting lost twice I looked down at my watch 1:15 since my house. It sounds short, but this is the longest I'd run in a looooooooooong time. Especially these last few days when my heart feels like it's going to explode after about 30 minutes. And the best part? I was so busy watching for roots, rocks, puddles, trail markers, and other obstacles, that I didn't look at my watch that whole time! I wasn't even bored! I LOVE running!

Chalk one point up for Boston.