Karin thanks America’s rails and trails

rails to trails

I just showered sitting down. And Craig had to wash and dry my hair. After running for 3 hours and 45 minutes, I don’t really feel like I can stand, but I do feel ready for my marathon on April 17th. This was one of the best runs of my life – great weather, sunshine, and like last week, Craig biked next to me the entire time. This was of course at his own expense because at one point we got in a little spat and I threw my ipod on the ground and attempted to shove him off his bike. Luckily, he outweighs me by a good 75 pounds, so it was like being shoved by a squirrel, but still. The fact that he kept on biking with me after that, well that is just good old Midwestern values. Plus, he had my gatorade strapped to his butt.

At about mile 20, I noticed a sign that said that the path I was running on, the Capital Crescent Trail, was part of the rails-to-trails system. This means that it was a railroad track and is now a trail. But that’s not how I thought of it when I saw the sign. I figured that if I kept running far enough, I would come to a train station and be able to hop on and choo-choo my way down the East Coast.

I actually knew that the trail used to be a railroad track, because when I was growing up, the tracks were still up and they were a very popular spot for a little adolescent pot smoking. There is still a really cool old brick train tunnel, which was where teenagers gathered and drank really cheap beer and smoked until their eyes crossed – or so I heard…

But now it’s a really amazing trail, almost flat with mile markers and water fountains. So perfect for a just short of a marathon run like today. The Rails-to-Trails non-profit is trying to make more of these asphalt bad boys all over the country, and I’m all about it. Helps us city folk remember what birds sound like.

The Dalecarlia Tunnel is now one of my favorite spaces to run through. It's still really eerie, even when mom's with pink jogging strollers are running past you.