Hopkins Memorial Forest Figure-Eight Loop

Another dreary morning. Sam graced us with a little extra sleep after going to bed late last night, and slept in until 7:15. Ahhh :-) We had a leisurely breakfast downstairs as family came and went, and finally got out the door for our run right around 11:00. Sam was more than happy to stay with Neenie and Pip Pop, and race through the hallways with the cousins, so it was a win-win. Although it looked cold and damp out, in fact, it wasn't that bad, and we were even treated to a few patches of blue sky!

Today, we decided to head for the Hopkins Memorial Forest, a large forested area owned by William College, right outside of town. Of course, it was all uphill on the roads to the entrance, and then immediately up, up, up once we hit the trails. As Ryan said, no wonder Williams always beat us (in xc), there's nothing flat around here! :-) The woods were pretty, and the trails, likely old logging roads, wound through the hills, crossing and running next to a number of clear and very full babbling brooks. I was a bit grumpy in those miles, my legs feeling a bit like concrete as I huffed and puffed up the steep hills on the Lower and Upper Loop trails. It was slow going for a while for sure!

Finally, we crested what seemed like the top of the Upper Loop, and had a nice stretch of flat, runnable terrain. Turning onto the final leg of the Lower Loop back to the entrance kiosk, we hit a beautifully groomed, wide crushed gravel carriage road that gave back very nicely, and was wonderfully fast running. The final road mile went through a very pretty neighborhood with what looked like some very cushy estates, as well as a few views out onto the hills, the low clouds sitting down over the hilltops. We rounded up the run to an even 7 by taking a short twirl through the parking lot :-) The splits from the run were pretty telling - a lot of churning uphill on the way out, and smooth downhill sailing on the way back. Fun!