Being away from the NRG and having a pretty lazy Christmas vacation is making me wish a little bit that I was out there checking out the trails and staying in shape--especially when I look at NOAA and find out that it was sunny and in the 40s today in Fayetteville. Although it hasn't been enough to get me to try to run at all here... (If I were in WV I'd run--honest!!) I'm wondering what the trail conditions are like and how out of shape I really am--I usually overestimate my endurance and strength on the first run after a long break, and it kills my enthusiasm. Maybe I should make a New Year's resolution to expect to be a wimp when I get back to WV. I've never been big on resolutions. I guess some people make resolutions to become runners or something. I think I became a runner more out of impulse than resolve. Maybe I just thought I was hardcore because I was the only person I knew back in 8th grade that decided he would run 3 miles for no good reason. Then again, I was home schooled; I guess I don't really think I knew that many kids my age at all.
Even so, I started road running probably around 8th grade. My first 5k was
a small race in Davis, WV in the fall of my 9th grade year (I started attending the public high school that year, but I didn't join the cross country team until my senior year). I was tough on myself in high school--even in my "fun" runs, I wouldn't let myself walk or stop. I'd push myself as hard as I could push without anyone running next to me (which wasn't terribly speedy, still). I thought I "liked" running, but I really don't know how much I enjoyed it, looking back on myself now. I think I just liked knowing that I was in more shape than the average high school kid. I had such a competitive attitude and mental toughness back then that I ended up injuring myself in a couple seasons of track & field by overtraining. My goal was the time; my satisfaction was the finish line. It did make well for becoming a better and faster athlete so I could beat my peers. I don't regret my aggressiveness on the track team and cross country team, but I've changed considerably since then in my personal running philosophy. Generally these days, my goal is less a time, finish line, or distance exact down to the 100th of a mile. Instead of liking the
idea of being a runner, I feel that I've been able more to enjoy
running itself, and I believe that trail running has played a part in this development.
A classic out-and-back jog just over 5k in distance, Long Point Trail provides a well-rounded degree of technicality and difficulty suitable for a beginner's introduction to what trail running has to offer. It is also a great tack-on addition to other trails for longer runs. As it intersects with Fayetteville Trail and Butcher Branch Trail, you can access nearly any other trail in the Canyon Rim area from here, and the point rewards any trek with a picturesque view of the famous New River Gorge bridge.
