The Running, Man!

 


Month one in Tacoma we got in the habit of doing a lunch-hour run in the lovely Stadium and Old Town neighborhoods, including a little trail running.

Month two in Elbe was mostly running old logging roads, with an occasional horse trail or hiking trail mixed in.

The new place, Salmon Beach, isn’t just on the water, it's also in Point Defiance Park, the crown jewel of the Tacoma park system. It’s an old-growth forest with giant trees. There is a historic Fort Nisqually living history site I’ve passed by but haven’t stopped in at yet. There’s a very large off-leash dog area right next to where we live that includes a lot of woods, unlike many dog parks that are just a patch of grass. There’s also a marina, an aquarium and zoo that I haven’t even seen. The park is something like 700 acres, and has a road called 5-Mile Road that encircles it.

It also has a lot of trails. We dove in on our first run without much of a plan and got lost, making the run considerably longer than intended. On the next two runs, we looked at a map (by we I mean Ann) ahead of time, and then stuck to the blue trail marked by blue trail marking posts. Following this pre-school-like organizational system, not getting lost wasn’t all that hard.

What is hard is beginning every run by trudging up more than 200 stairs. And the climbing isn’t done. Point Defiance Park is hilly, providing picnickers with some great views of Vashon Island, and runners with a great workout. At least all the uphill comes with a payoff. 

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