Back to Shelby Bottoms

With the cancellation of Bonnaroo 2021, I found myself with some time on my hands.  Not necessarily free time but time I had set aside for myself after a jam packed August at work.  I was supposed to be in Monteagle Wednesday night through Sunday night or Monday morning but, alas, it wasn’t to be this year. 

Truthfully, it might be for the best, given the rising explosion of Covid-19 cases due to the Delta variant.  All of the guys in our ragtag Bonnaroo group had voiced concerns - Huge, Bonnaroo Matt, Bill, and Seve. A couple bailed early and I was having second thoughts, although there was a possibly it might have been an epic Bonnaroo w/smaller crowds a beautiful, cooler weather after the remnant of Hurricane Ida blew across Tennessee.

This morning, I dropped JP off at MBA, then drove to Shelby Park to run the trails at Shelby Bottoms.  Those trails are my happy place, for sure.  By far, the majority of my Saturday or Sunday long runs have been on the Shelby Bottoms trails.  In some ways, those trails helped make me the runner I am today, because I’ve done so many long runs there.

I ran seven miles today, starting at the clubhouse for the Vinny Links golf course.  The trails were a bit muddy but not to the point where I had to run through mud and water.  I was able to skirt around most of it.  The weather was nice with the temperature under 70 degrees.  My background music was a Blue Mountain playlist on Spotify.  Listening to Blue Mountain while trail running at Shelby Bottoms is almost a perfect morning for me.  

The trails are different now, with two tornadoes touching down at Shelby Park over the last decade.  Last year’s tornado did a lot of damage and destroyed many old growth trees.  Sadly, the Cornelia Fort trail hasn’t been cleared yet.  The .8 miles on that trail is my favorite part of a long run there, so I hope it’s cleared eventually.

Crime, where I’m having my post-run coffee, is starting to fill up, too much so for me to feel comfortable. Very few people are wearing masks, so I’m going to leave sooner that I’d planned.  

Labor Day Weekend 2021.