Hidden treasure

The weather here in the C-L-E has been nothing short of glorious.  After a very mild winter, the temps have jumped into the 40's, 50's and 60's for the past couple of weeks and it looks to be staying put over the next week.

Today's workout was 10.2 of #5kin100days Graduate - hill work 5x 2:30's.  I just had to get outside, and for today's workout, the track was just not going to cut it.  Instead of running up and down the main road - which offers a couple of good hills, and also alot of car traffic - I set my sights on the park.  I had a hill in mind, but once I got there, I felt like challenging myself and going for it on the steeper hill to really challenge myself.

The hill I had in mind.

The hill I ran (and the puddle I hurdled).

Holy cow!  My quads are going to be screaming at me tomorrow - and while I was a tad slow, I still completed all 5 hill climbs.  Not too bad for my first outdoor hill workout (the previous in week 7 was on the treadmill = cheater).

After hill work, I felt that I needed to work some kinks out.  My shins, ankles and feet felt flat and heavy.  I was slapping the ground with my feet when I ran, so after some stretching and walking it out a bit - I noticed a hidden treasure across the stream from hills... a walking trail (in my case, a jogging/running trail).

Fun fact: Trails often give me the creeps.
As in, I do not want to go missing while running on a trail.
This run was very brave of me.
However, I am still ordering that pepper spray just in case.

 I am not sure of the total distance, but I can tell you, it is a slight incline on the way up, stays steady for a bit, and then descends to along the stream to the end.  A nice quick trail run was just what I needed.  And I even stopped to feed take a picture of the guerrillas along the way.

It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor workout, and what a joy that I now have a trail to hit up when I get sick of the monotony at the track.  I had no clue this was there, and I am super excited to get my use out of it this spring/summer.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?  Have you moved your workouts/runs outdoors yet?