Road to trail.

I'm somewhat of a runner. Definitely an amateur, but I've squeezed in a couple of half-marathons, shorter road races, and the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler over the past few years. Moving out to Carson I had two running concerns:

(1) I am out of shape. Period. Between early April and early June I ran only once. This was after running about four days a week between January and April, and my body has just fallen apart.

(2) I haven't really run at altitude. Carson is at about 4600 feet above sea level. I could just imagine passing out from lack of oxygen when trying to run up here.

This week we've been having gorgeous weather in Carson, so instead of hitting the gym today, Mr. TPG suggested we check out the trails behind our neighborhood. I was game. So we set off down the road. Soon we reached a park where there were some trailheads leading up into the hills. It was definitely high desert terrain: loose sand trails with rocks and brush along the sides of the trail. I almost couldn't make it up the first hill, lagging behind my long-legged husband. But when we reached the top we had a good pace running along the ridge, and it was simply beautiful -- the sun shining over the Carson Valley and mountains rising in the distance. It made me appreciate the struggle to get up the hill. We looped back down and made it home, recording a little over four miles.

Trail running is hard. Harder than road running. But the views and the sense of accomplishment are decent compensation for the extra strain on the muscles. Hopefully the next one will be easier on both my legs and lungs though!

My future running goal? The 2012 Lake Tahoe Half Marathon. Anyone want to join me?