read between the runs

it’s been quite the long school year, so i had good reason to be looking forward to our fall break. in order to optimize my experience, i decided that a four night trip to hunstville state park would be just what i needed. i’ve had an itch to bust the tent out again and slum it in the woods for a while now. plus, i knew that some time away from the city would spur some much needed running motivation to prep more pre-wedding. going to huntsville, i had two objectives: run a lot, and read a lot.

my time out in the woods was amazing. it could not have been a better, more revitalizing and centering experience. i started each morning with a 8.5-9 mile jog around the prairie branch and chiquapin trail. i’ve done very little actual trail running in my life, so i appreciated the challenge of hills, roots, and terrain changes. the nature is truly what i enjoyed the most, though. i was surrounded by trees and saw enough deer to make me think i was in wisconsin. phenomenal. the length of the runs didn’t weigh on my body nearly as much as i thought it might, and i really only felt a bit of gradual fatigue from the runs. i felt loose, easy, and strong on each run which was incredibly exciting and makes me want to keep running to retain that feeling of strength.

after running, i enjoyed some yogurt each day, which is a delicacy that i forgot that i loved. that, accompanied with some clemmies was life giving. the showers were much better than i thought they would be. i thought that i would do something like a 10 mile bike ride each day, but the terrain was just too hilly for my quads to be able to do it if i wanted my runs to be successful, and that was my main objective.

when i first arrived, the park seemed almost entirely full, and by the final day it was just me and two other sites occupied. it was a little unsettling to see everyone leaving, but that also aided the experience i was training to obtain in my trip away from the city. i enjoyed the presence of other people being around, but it became increasingly more relaxing when others were gone. part of the reason i wanted to “escape” was to disconnect from others and be left alone with myself, which was made easier by fewer people being around. i had a lot of time to just think and be in my head, which i needed. i could have done a better job of distancing myself from technology, but i’m still happy with the presence that i pursued during my time out there.

i enjoyed the food i had to eat while i was there, basic as they were. apples, hummus, broccoli, soup, cashews: just good stuff. some people may think that 20 hotdogs were too many, but i thought that it was just enough. the cooking situation took some learning, but i figured out how to use the butane stove and got to cook some dogs over the campfire. i mean, what more could you ask for? it worked out wonderfully that the burn ban had been lifted so i could enjoy every aspect of the camping life.

despite all the above listed activities and thoughts, what i spent the majority of my time doing was relaxing and reading. whether it was the hammock, the tent, or a camp chair, i pounded through books in the way that i had hoped when i set out there. i suppose i could have enjoyed the views more, but i was focused on snapping my attention to books while sitting outside and enjoying the weather that was profoundly beautiful.

the only negative of the experience was the prolonged rain that came through the area. i loved running in it, but it did put a literal damper on the day. my tent leaked through the bottom, got over my supplies, and was hard to clean out. it also meant that i couldn’t hang in the hammock or just sit outside. all in all, it was a small setback because everything else went just how i would have liked it.

if given the chance, i would absolutely go camp in huntsville again. i loved my campsite, loved the atmosphere, the trails, the everything. i can’t think of a more relaxing way to have spent my fall break, and i honestly want to go out and do that every year if i can.

do great; be happy