Percy Warner and Edwin Warner Parks

This little guy wanted to join me for dinner

Today I spent most of the morning at church for a volunteer orientation. Who knew that volunteering to be in the nursery 2 nights a month would require 4 hours of orientation?!? At least they fed us breakfast :-)

And I made breakfast for dinner and had breakfast before I left this morning, so it was a breakfast kind of day!

Dinner and the Olympics...great night!

After the orientation was over, I headed to Edwin Warner Park (EW). Yesterday I went to Percy Warner Park (PW) and run/hiked the Red Trail (PW; 4.5 miles) and the Candy-Cane Connector Trail (PW to EW; 1 mile). I did 8 miles total with an out-and-back on the CCC Trail, a little around the Nature Center in EW, and a little on the road in PW. I wanted to explore a little more today, so I drove to EW. I'd only ever been on the Red Trail and the roads but I knew there were more miles of trails, so I had to check them out. I found the Blue Trail (EW; 2.5 miles) after a little time on the road and hiked that. Then I walked back to the car and finished with just under 4 miles. I'd have loved to have hiked more but I didn't want to carry water and I was tired, so I left. That just means that I'll have to go back to explore again!

So far, the Red Trail is by far my favorite. It is a challenging hike (though it is labeled "Moderate" on the park literature) and typically takes me around 1:20 or 1:30 with a friend. Two weeks ago I managed to complete it in 1:02 by running all the downhills. Today I finished 4.5 miles in about 00:58 by running most of the CCC Trail, which is basically flat. Nothing else on that hike is flat, and it gives me a new appreciation for trail runners.

The Blue Trail was through the woods too but not nearly as challenging: It is shorter, and it is not as hilly or steep as the Red Trail. Obviously mileage was less, but the overall ascent/descent for the two days were this:

Red Trail Plus: 2467' ascent/2570' descent (8.01 miles, 308' per mile ascent/321' per mile descent)
Blue Trail Plus: 1318' ascent/1455' descent (3.78 miles, 348' per mile ascent/385' per mile descent)
Red Trail: 2164' ascent, 2183' descent (4.5 miles, 480' per mile ascent/485' per mile descent) (counter-clockwise)

Tomorrow I will be riding a few miles, so having two days of no riding and good hiking and training makes me happy. Plus I've been able to watch the Olympics this weekend so that makes me happy too.