Today I ventured forth in search of more trails for my jogging adventures.
Initially, I was headed to Hole-in-the-Fence trailhead in the Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve (or plain old Wilderness Park as locals refer to it) on a recommendation from my friend Jon. However, as I rode out towards Thonotosassa I started thinking about the rain we've been getting recently. The whole Wilderness Parks System is situated around the Hillsborough river (about of 1/4 of it's total length in the multiple parks) and whole sections of trail can become quite sloughy when it rains. For those that don't know, a slough is basically a swampy area. I have done some of the parks in the system but have never heard of the Hole-in-the-Fence trail so I'm eager to check it out sometime soon. As with most of the trails in the system they are multi use trails so I can probably expect to share the trail with many bikes but hopefully not get mowed down by one!
So, considering the rains I head out to Hillsborough River SP which I haven't been to in probably a year or better. I was hoping to avoid mud on the Florida Trail because I remembered it having some elevation above the river (if you can believe that). I more or less did! Luckily I started the trail going clockwise (it's a loop) as suggested by the markers as the first 1/2-2/3s of the trail where my couch to 5k program took place was bone dry. My cool down walk encountered lots of stretches of gunky mud and (worse) mosquitoes but I could take my time clomping through so as not to bust on my butt.
Did I mention I face planted? Heh. Not a true face plant but about halfway through my program I was jogging up an elevation and my R foot clipped an exposed root hidden by some grass. I stumbled forward and planted on my knees and hands with enough grace to lightly toss my Nexus One onto the dirt instead of crushing it. I really need to get an arm strap because I will cry if I kill that phone (electronics love *sigh*). I got to thinking how horrible it would have been if I had like flipped down the embankment into the river and got eaten by a gator...or something. The rest of the program was spent studiously avoiding roots and slowing down on the plank bridges.
I have been using Softrace on my phone (w/ the c25k podcast in the background- have I mentioned how I love that my android multitasks??) to get stats and I am loving it. It's the second app I've tried and I don't need to look anymore. It maps your run (for interest, and backtracking if you get lost) shows altitude changes, distance run, min/mile, top/avg speed and some other stats and also scores against your past logged runs. There is also a challenge mode which I haven't checked out. I also just discovered the diary aspect of it where it has your race stored by date- who doesn't love that?
So, how'd I do? My time today was about 30s/mi slower. However, this includes the fall and multiple freak outs from running face first into spiderwebs (I was the first one on the trail today, clearly). Also, everything else I have to compare it to was not only flat terrain but wide paths with no roots. So I am pleased. I like jogging REAL trails. I feel like I am connecting with where I am from. Even the elevation changes and roots were enjoyable as they made the segments appear to go by faster. I don't think I've mentioned that I restarted (yes, completely restarted) my c25k program at week 1. My workouts weren't close enough together to feel any progress. But the prep runs and this being the new w1d2 I didn't feel near as tired as I had in the past. Granted, I didn't drink last night, got plenty of rest, ate right this morning, and was running in the shade...aka the perfect scenario. I'm optimistic :)
p.s. Somehow although I packed up the bug spray I failed to put it on! Mosquitoes annoy me but for some reason I don't suffer from them like a lot of people I know. When I evaluated myself for ticks in the bathroom before heading home I only saw about 5 welts (none that have sustained) but I did have a trickle of blood from a particularly evil stalker horsefly that had me running portions of trail long after my c25k program ended. Those bites hurt!
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