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Every week, I look forward to my long run on trails. Rain or shine, hot or cold, solo or in a group, the trails are a place of joy and adventure. There are so many reasons to love the trails — more reasons than I can possibly list! — but here are nine benefits of trail running to get you started!
When I was reflecting on my core values and goals for 2021, I realized one of the key things I want to focus on is community. The Oiselle Volée community has greatly impacted me (not just in my running but personally) and I want to extend the invitation to you while the membership window is open.
In November 2018 I ran my second marathon. It was both my second marathon ever and my second marathon in 14 days - just two weeks after Marine Corps Marathon. In my defense, I hadn’t actually intended to run two marathons so close together. I had planned on doing the RDC full marathon as my original target race when I signed up with Fleet Feet’s speed series training program since the race registration was included in my training group sign-up. But then I had the opportunity to get a (legit) bib transfer for Marine Corps Marathon. A bunch of my runner friends were going to MCM and I had major race FOMO so I jumped at the opportunity. That race went well and I felt pretty good; I knew I wanted to run another marathon, but I wasn’t sure when exactly. How long did I need to rest? How much time did my legs need to recover so I could walk comfortably, much less run? I knew I had Run RDC coming up and I thought I might drop to the half marathon but, well, I forgot. (Okay, actually I didn’t forget. I just procrastinated too long and then realized in horror the deadline had passed for swapping distances, oh no!!)
“Well,” I said resignedly, “That decides it. I guess I’m running a marathon this weekend!”
Growing up in a place where snow days are called whenever patches of ice form on the road it took me a long time to appreciate winter sports. What is this snow? What is this sled or skate or ski or board? If you've never been exposed to something - anything really, much less frigid temps and an insane urge to go outside and play in the ice - then it can be hard to relate to something. And yet winter sports seem so appealing. Is it the elegance of figure skaters, the frightening speed of luge, or seeing someone seem to fl in the ski jump? And yet the lack of winter weather can make winter sports seem so inaccessible.But not anymore! Check out these hot spots for cold sports in North Carolina!
My friend Kelly (an excellent mentor captain for Fleet Feet running group, Fresh Air Fitness coach and organizer, the awesome gift organizer for Duke Children's Hospital, and the founder of First Pages) is doing something epic this summer: she's running the Bryce Canyon ultra-marathon. She's tackling the 50K course, a rough trail race covering 31 miles in the national park. I am super excited for her and a little envious - I have such a love for running and for hiking, so combining the two and doing trail running just makes sense, so I eagerly volunteered to accompany her on some trail runs. To help her train we've come up with a bucket list of local trails to run.
I know, I know, everyone's still obsessed with snow right now (can you believe we got well over 8 inches in Durham?!) but today's a little bit of a throwback. Final photos for the Wake County Parks project were delivered and I am just itching to show you all the last round of images! I got to do a ton of fun things for the Wake County Parks photography project, from photographing mountain bikers and stand-up paddleboarders to exploring hiking trails to meeting up with equestrians to doing some fun interactive lessons with kids - but it also gave me the opportunity to do something I'd never be able to do otherwise (well, not legally at least): explore a park that hadn't been opened yet!
It was a foggy day in October and we were exploring. There were some abandoned places McCrae had noticed on some recent drives around the area that invited us out on a dreary weekend morning for an adventure. We first drove out to Chatham County to the Haw River, finding some small access point hidden off the highway - one of those gravel lots you might see and have some passing curiosity from the road as it flashes past your car window, but that you never actually stop and explore. It led down to a long wide dam next to the highway bridge over the river, all silt and rocks and rushing water and rusted cans and graffiti.
The American Tobacco Trail, a 23-mile rails-to-trails project that runs through Wake, Durham, and Chatham counties, offers 4.7 miles of compacted gravel along the Wake County section where horses and riders can enjoy the wooded trail. On two afternoons recently I met up with equestrians to explore the trail and its features.
