Running the Trails

It's a beautiful early morning on campus at Sewanee.  I'm at Stirling's Coffee House again, enjoying a cup of coffee before I head back to the cabin and get ready for Mike and Bill to arrive.  We're going to get an early start and, hopefully, get to Bonnaroo in time to see the Teskey Brothers.  That's the preliminary plan, anyway.

I had a fantastic 4 + mile trail run yesterday on part of Sewanee's Perimeter Trail.  Part of the trail I had run before - to Beckwith Point.  I call it the "Five Bridges Trail" because there are five small bridges to cross as the trial winds down and up to Beckwith Point.  It's a tough run because there are so many uphill and downhill parts and because there are a lot of exposed roots and rocks.  I like that, though, because it requires me to engage my mind in the physical act of running as opposed to just letting my mind wander.  That's a different approach to running - for me, anyway - and it's a nice change from running the streets of my neighborhood.

The view at Beckwith's Point is nice, although you have to clamber across a formation of boulders to get to the edge and really enjoy it.  It's a peaceful spot and when we're here with the Allen's for the week of July 4, I might suggest we hike there and have a picnic.

I continued on the trail from Beckwith Point to Green's View, a relatively short section of the trail I had never run before.  The trail wound around the edge of the golf course before opening up into a large clearing with a spectacular view.  Well worth the extra half mile or so.

The run back to the trailhead was tough but satisfying.  The music playing on my favorite playlist - "the Haunting," a collection of 50 + songs that stay with me - kept me going.

There's just something about trail running that speaks to me in a different way.  I've felt that from the time I ran the Wild Thang 10-mile Trail Race at Long Hunter State Park, my first ever trail run to now.

Now, time for some music.