We are in Indianapolis now for the Indy 500. We do this every year. In the past, I’d just run some of the rail or
canal trails. Now, I’m only running true
trails. Finding places to run in
Indianapolis would be tough.
Luckily, we’ve been here enough and I know they have a trail
system not far from the track. It’s
called Eagle Creek Park. I knew I’d be
running there. I also knew it has a fee,
which I found out is $6. That might be
good for a family hanging out all day, but it is hardly worth it for an hour
run.
The weather was tricky.
It was actually super cold earlier in the day. The sun was finally peeking out when I
started at 3 PM. I went with short
sleeves and shorts. That was perfect and
with the pace being fairly quick; I was even sweating quite a bit.
I parked in the southern lot and it turns out that was
perfect. I was planning to run one of
the main trails, the Red Trail. It was
shown as a 6.75 mile loop. That was a
little farther than I would’ve liked, but it would do. I knew this trail would be flat and fast
anyway, so I could cover that distance in almost an hour. This surely wouldn’t be anywhere near as
rugged as my Pennsylvania trails.
I grabbed some water and started the loop in the
counterclockwise direction. That would
leave me with some neat running along the reservoir at the end of the run. The trail was nice and smooth and pretty
wide. It was a wide singletrack.
I was impressed with the trail. Despite being easy, it was pretty. It was windy and a lot of fun. There were some early ups and downs that
surprised me too. I wasn’t expecting
that, although it wasn’t too difficult.
The trail flowed beautifully through the trees.
Some early parts went on to old roads. I wasn’t too fond of that, but those segments
didn’t last long. I went by an ice
skating pond which didn’t have any ice obviously. In the beginning, I was worried because I
didn’t see many signs and blazes.
However, the trails were easy to follow and there were signs at every
intersection. I didn’t get lost.
There were a few hikers out here and there. I came across 3 or 4 runners going the other
way. I’m always surprised at how
unfriendly all the runners are out here.
No one says hello. I don’t expect
that from people in the Midwest, but now I’m used to it.
I stopped for a lot of early photos. My pace was somewhere over 9 minutes per mile
for the first couple miles. The pace was
good, but the stops were slowing me down.
I was pushing at a moderate effort, as my breathing was labored
slightly.
I came through a fitness trail section, with equipment. That is something I have no interest in doing
on a trail run. I was hoping not to lose
the trail here, because the signs weren’t great, but I didn’t.
Shortly after that and some flowing singletrack, I came to
reservoir section. This part was a stone
path in between two bodies of water.
That was neat and it was fast. I
picked it up and was getting closer and closer to having my overall pace dip
below 9 minutes per mile. I took a few
quick photos, but not much.
After running between the two bodies of water, it was on to
maybe the most fun section of the run.
There was a steep up to start this part.
It was short, but it slowed my blazing pace slightly. I was pushing quite hard now, as I was around
mile 4. This part was very winding. At one point, I had to even duck under
branches and fly around corners. It was
still not technical, so I wasn’t slowed much.
There were these interesting obstacles in the trees in this area
too.
Apparently, it is some sort of park you pay more to climb
around. It did look like fun. Some dogs on leashes wanted to run with me
here. I had to dodge a few hikers
too. I was happy to get to mile 5 under
45 minutes (a sub 9 minute per mile pace).
I was cruising for sure.
They had some nice steps and bridges throughout the trails
too. They were well maintained
trails. I was breathing a little heavy
still, but happy to not fall off. My
pace remained steady, as I drank from my handheld.
I came to a rowing area.
I figured I had about a mile left.
Shortly after that, I was on a road and then realized I was already at
my car. I finished up just past the
parking lot, to get 6 miles. It was sub
54 minutes (a sub 9 minute pace).
Although I paid basically a dollar per mile run, it was a
nice park and a fun workout. Since the
trails were easy, I pushed myself more.
I rarely do that these days. I
definitely need to incorporate some faster trail runs into my routine. Decent summer weather would allow me to do
that more.
Tomorrow is a busy day on the track. We usually skip the concert in the
afternoon. That will give me time to run
again. I’d like to go to Eagle Creek
Park again, but not sure I want to pay to do so. I may try a different park, if I can find one
close enough to here. Maybe I’ll park
nearby and hike in to Eagle Creek Park and save three dollars. Whether I run or not tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll
run on Saturday. There is no action at
the track then. I’m thinking I might go
to the Hoosier National Forest, a few hours away.
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