Crappy Weeks, New Trails, Dreadmills...Color Me Excited!

Last week turned out to be one of the most stressful weeks I've had in a long time. I couldn't wait to blow the old popsicle stand on Friday...so much so that I ran out of the office and left my keys laying on the desk.  Who needs keys when you have feet, sez I.


I went running.

I was hoping against hope to salvage my crappy runs all week with a really exceptional one, but alas, it was not to be.  I did manage a respectable 3 miles, and even more importantly, burned off a lot of crazy in the process.

Saturday, I decompressed.  A lot.  And that's all I'll say about that.

Sunday would have normally been another run day for me, but under our new plan, Sunday is now HIKING day (cue the band)!  So, after laying in bed for an hour perusing the interwebs for trail ideas, we decided to try a new trail north of Mountain City, about an hour away.  It was totally worth it.

The Laurel Creek Trail is the start of an expansive rails-to-trails project in Johnson County, much like the Tweetsie Trail in Elizabethton/Johnson City....except their long range plan is a bit more aggressive.  Instead of the Tweetsie's ten miles, they're planning on a whole network of inter-connected trails covering some 87 miles.  Some undertaking...it should be fabulous, not to mention fun to explore.  And well worth the drive to the next county, I'm thinking....which is incredibly scenic, anyway.

Although it was touted as a three mile trail, the out and back only wound up measuring about 2.4 miles, according to my Runkeeper app.  There was a trailhead leading back the other way, however, that we did not explore, leaving it to another day, so maybe that trail combined with the main trail equals 3 miles.  Guess we shall see.


We took the boys with us, and they had a blast playing in the river.  I will never understand how they can not seem affected by that icy-cold mountain water, but they love it...and that's what counts.  Keith and I had a great time, too.  The trail is absolutely beautiful, and was well worth the hour's drive to get there.


On the way home, we also located another trailhead much closer to home that we are very eager to explore.  Called the Iron Mountain Trail, it actually runs along the crest of our own Iron Mountain, and is purported to have incredibly amazing long-range mountain views all along its length.  I'm not sure how far it goes, but after the short initial ascent to get up to the trail proper, it levels out and is supposed to be a fairly easy hike.  I'm hoping to make that one our next trip, probably in two weeks, as Keith is headed back to Atlanta on Wednesday, and will be gone until then.  I'll do a solo hike next weekend, but will keep to a trail we've already done so we can explore the new one together.

Last night was my first run of this week, and since I had to work until right at dark, I decided I'd head to the gym and use the dreaded treadmill for my run.  I knew I'd have to do it at some point...we've lost those long, late summer days already...but I was really hoping to avoid it for as long as possible.  There's only one thing I hate worse than running in the rain, and that's treadmills.

I did ok, though...considering I spent the first 15 minutes of my run trying to figure out how the heck to do intervals. I finally just gave up and ran.  I will say that I was able to get a bit more speed at points, so I think it will be a good tool for speed work this winter...that is if I can survive the boredom.  Thank God for the TV's, that's all I can say.

And last, but certainly not least...I just registered for my first color run!  It will be my last 5K of the year, and I wanted to do something different and special.  My co-workers have actually formed a team for this one, and although most of them will probably walk it, it will be incredibly fun to be able to share in this event with all of them.  I'm really looking forward to it!  Maybe after I finish my run, they'll let me double back and join the rest of my team so I can finish their walk with them.  That's what's so nice about fun runs...the rules are usually much more relaxed than chip-timed events, so I should be able to get away with it, lol.

What about you? Have you ever done a color run? Were you with a group, or solo?  Did you stay with your group, or was it every man for himself?  Tell me about it!