Around the Mountain

     Headed out yesterday morning to "walk quickly" a trail that will remain nameless.  I have not run on this trail before, because technically you are not supposed to run here (although when I was there previously I saw many people running, so not sure here).  Anyhow, I dropped off the kids at school and headed out.  I thought to myself, it is a short run of around 4 miles which should be perfect for my recovering legs.  I was mistaken.

It was hills like these that I did not anticipate that were punishing

The scenery was awesome, which is why I decided to share the pics.  My legs just did  not want to cooperate.  They still feel heavy and I can tell they are just not recovered yet.  I am 11 days post marathon and have taken numerous off days with almost no hard workouts.  I will continue on this schedule until the legs come back.  Having said all that, the trail was a bit hillier and rockier than I had anticipated.

an ankle buster 

     There is an upper and lower lake out here and about 2/3 of the way through my run I came upon the land bridge that crosses these 2 lakes.  There was another interesting structure that stuck out in the middle of the upper lake.

pump house?

land bridge

I can only guess that it is a pump house.  I thought it may be a fancy overflow drain, but there was a nice spillway off to the side to serve that purpose.  

     I concluded my run and headed off to the pool to meet M for some long course swimming.  Swimming is one thing I can do right now that is not a huge strain on my legs.  The weather is definitely heating up out there.   Make sure you stay hydrated even when you don't need it.  Once you get down on fluids it is almost impossible to catch up in a workout situation when it is hot out.

     The cool thing about this trail for me is I can make it over there almost entirely off road.  If you use the Biscuit Run trails and catch the Rivanna Trail you only have to navigate about a 2 miles section of gravel road to get there.  Might be good for an early morning long run this summer before it gets hot, but will have to check on the "no running" policy.  Later.