The trail is back!!!!!

This Winter has been one hell of a Winter in Michigan.  Believe it or not, this is the first time I've been on the trails since November.  It is a glorious day in Michigan today with temps coming up to 70 today.  A perfect day for a trail run with a start temperature at 42 at the West Branch Trails at Stony Creek MetroPark or better known as the mountain bike trails.  Shorts were in order for the day!

The most elevation gain I've had this year!

We encountered a little snow in spots, but really, the below picture was the largest snow we saw.  Most of the area was in great condition except a couple downed trees and overall, pretty dry except the normal spots it's always wet.  There was five of us running, all of which are in the SEMR group, and two that I run with regularly on the weekends.

A little into the run and we saw a pretty good sized turkey but she was running as we came up on her.

We made our way on the outer loop first for about 4 miles or so and then headed back for some more technical, hilly runs.

Outer, easier loop

We also ran to the top of Mount Sheldon which is the highest part in the park and just learned that it's the highest part of Oakland County as well.

Top of the park

After we all got in almost 10 miles, I headed back out for a few more.  I was feeling pretty good today and thought I would do a half distance since last weekends race was short.

There's a technical trail that runs from marker 6 to 19 that is my favorite part.  Little did I know that it was going to put me over 14.5 miles instead of 13.1.  Oh well, it was a glorious day for a trail run and I didn't mind doing the extra miles.

Marker 19 to 6 - awesome route!

With that, I made my way back to the parking lot and am more than done for today!  I'll be back on the trails next weekend.  It might be time to hit up Pontiac Lake's loop at the Pontiac Lake State Recreation area.  There will be many more trail runs this season as I prepare for my first 50k.

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!