Trail Running

Have you ever tried something new and thought to yourself, Why haven’t I been doing this forever?! That’s exactly how I felt this weekend. Bryan and I went to his family’s cottage in eastern Ohio and I absolutely fell in love with something I know I’ll be doing a lot more of now. But let me start from the beginning.

It all started this past June when I was supposed to be going on a mission trip with our high school students to Nashville. However, at the last minute my plans changed and instead I spent the week with my family in Indiana after the passing of my uncle. It was a blessed week, although tough, and when Bryan and I were reunited he brought me a pair of Nike trail running shoes from the Nike outlet store in Nashville. I had a couple chances to wear them recently on some “trails”, but the trails in downtown Columbus cannot compare to the trails at the Nass cottage on the lake.


So Bryan and I spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the cottage. We kayaked watching the sunrise, watched football, took a nap, and just relaxed. At one point Saturday I decided to take our dog, Riggins, out for a trail run. The cottage sits just off of the Buckeye trail and we had hiked it numerous times before, but we’d never gone farther than the marina, which I’m guessing is around a mile and a half away (no cell service means no run mapping apps, which I’m ok with). So Riggins and I took off, determined to get farther than the marina to see some more of the trail. One of the best parts of trail running out in the middle of nowhere is I can let Riggins go and not worry about tripping over him or the leash. He loves running free just as much, or more, than I do! From the very beginning of that run I was loving it. The trail was narrow and overgrown in many places. There were logs down over the trail that we either had to climb over or crawl under. I ran through countless spider webs and even got a big thorn stuck in my thigh that I had to stop and pull out. I cannot tell you what a freeing experience it was. It felt effortless and free of boundaries. We got to the marina and we stopped briefly so Riggins could take a dip and sip from the lake, but then we were on our way, onto the part of the trail we had never been on before. It was beautiful! I am seriously in love.
Trail running in Columbus is ok, but nothing can compare to the freedom of running trails when you don’t see anyone else the entire time. That was amazing. And if I didn’t know that we are called to do ministry in Columbus, I would vote to move back to Colorado so I could have even better trail runs. But the Buckeye trail and maybe occasional State Park trails will do for now. One of the big perks of trail running with Riggins is having one tired Aussie by the end of it.

I highly encourage you to try out trail running if you’re into running at all. I used to be all about speed, but now I’m seeing the incredible joy to be found in the whole experience. Let me know if you have a favorite trail for running! 

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