The "Oldie, but Goodie" Trail

I was thinking Friday during my standard "oldie but goodie", what makes a run a classic?  Why am I fascinated with and continue to come back to this trail?  And so I contemplated the oldie but goodie for 10 epic miles from Popperton Park, up Dry Creek to upper BoSho, to the top of Terrace Hills and back.  My favorite.  I thought that I would delineate it for all of you.  Here are three signs that you have an "oldie but goodie" on your hands.

1.  Le Drame:  The drama, man!  You either know the people on this classic route, or your know their deal.  Running on Dry Creek, you will see the university and hospital employees out in droves around lunch and right after work.  On the first sunning day in awhile, or a serious weather warm up, the trail will be packed with mountain bikers.  This was the case last week...let the drama commence.  I love the mountain bikers, especially when I'm feeling strong!  I love passing them on the uphill and keeping up with them on the flats.  I also love when you are pushing it and really working hard they will all get off the trail for you.  It's a fun game.

Epic sunsets also help the oldie but goodie.

2.  High Frequency of Flow:  Could it be the product of the sheer number of times you run the oldie but goodie?  Could be.  I am sure there is a high frequency of terrible runs for the same reason.  BUT, I do believe that flow, runner's high, or euphoria, is more common on terrain that you are intimately familiar with.  Think about it.  Your mind can wander and let loose far more frequently on a trail that you know like the back of your hand than a technical adventure.  Flow, and other similar amazing feelings, are giving your body positive feedback and thus keep you coming back for more.

Happy dog!

3.  Location, location, location:  Let's be honest, it's convenience is the reason you first started going to this trail in the first place, but the terrain can't be all that bad or you wouldn't waste your time.  You probably have easier runs closer to your home (like flat on the road), but you chose this convenient run for it's dynamic and decently easy and hard nature.  My oldie but goodie is close to home (check!), dog friendly (check!), has a 2.5 mile uphill to start, the middle is rolling and basically non-technical, I sometime descent 1 mile before I turn around so I can climb back up, rolling back, and bomber downhill to the car.

Go get yourself some oldie but goodie this week!  Happy trails, my friends.