Hitting the trails

After arriving in the Quiet Corner of Connecticut last week, I decided to join a couple running groups to acquaint myself with local trails.  I went for a couple mellow weekday runs with a Meetup group and really enjoyed the feeling of running through the woods.

My fellow runners were welcoming, and it was great to stick together while cruising along the trails. Some parts of the trail were rocky, but others were soft, pine needle laden routes.  I managed to avoid most bugs (after dousing myself with a DEET-containing repellant!).

Today I joined the Shenipset group for a longer run on the Nipmuck Trail.  The group took off at a pretty fast pace. Again, I loved the trail- with lots of rocks and roots and even a couple stream crossings.

But I just felt icky and couldn't get my heartrate down. So I stopped after 2 miles and a very kind group member ran back to the start with me.  We talked about running routes in the area, and he was encouraging (yay for the uber-kind running community!!).  With less than a mile to go,  I fell--it felt like a long time before I hit the ground.  Fortunately, I just scraped up my thighs, and I didn't even draw blood :)  Of course, I was quite embarrassed because a) I was fried and couldn't do the full length of the group run; and b) I face planted right in front of my new buddy. Aaarghhhhhh.  Anyways, I survived.  I suppose it's all part of acclimating to a new place--with new trails, new people, new weather, new bugs. So many new things.