First Trail Run

Today I headed up Lookout Mountain to run the Back Country Trail at Cloudland Canyon State Park.  This is my training run on a dirt trail, but based on today’s run there will be several more.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The leaves are changing, the weather was about 60F and the running trail was awesome.  I had a hard time seeing roots and rocks because of the leaves on the trail, but I survived without incident.  The trail is a 2 mile loop with a big drop and climb in the back.  My uphill runs looked more like a power walk.  I look forward to getting in shape so I can really tackle these hills.  Two laps and 50 minutes later I met Shelley (my wife) and we hiked the short trail to the catfish pond.  That is where I took the above photo.  The red maple on the right is even more amazing in person.