Running in Virginia

I'm in Hampton, Virginia on business. I've been here for 2 weeks and will be here for another 2 weeks. I've been able to come home on the weekends, but the weekdays have been spent here in Hampton. The good thing about being here is that I get to explore new terrain.

Each morning I wake up around 6am and run. I've explored a lot of the area as a result. For example, last week I found that there is a 3 mile running loop around the golf course. The golf course is directly across the street from my hotel. There are beautiful little ponds and the course is nice and manicured. The first time I ran around it, I'll admit that I was a bit intimidated. There is a sign at the entrance to the path that says "Open from sunrise to sunset. Be safe. Run with a friend." I thought this was pretty bold, but I shrugged and kept on... el solo.


I love the new scenery, but it's all paved, all the time. I'd much rather be dodging roots and weaving in and out of trees on a single track trail.

On Wednesday morning I was scheduled for an 8 miler, so I decided to explore a local park in hunt for some wooded trails. Luck was on my side and I found lots. It was a trail running jackpot named Sandy Bottom Nature Park. It's about 2 miles from my hotel. This meant that I would be able to make it there and explore the about 4 miles of new trails before having to head back to the hotel and get ready for work...

As it turned out, I got lost inside the park and was late for work. :) I ended up turning right onto a trail, thinking it would bring me back out onto the main path. After I was on the trail for about 15 minutes, I realized that I was pretty deep into the park and had NO CLUE which way the entrance was. For all I knew, I was on the other side of the park and would have to run another 4 miles just to get out. I didn't worry about it too much, but I was just concerned about getting back to the hotel so I could take a shower, eat breakfast and walk to before it got too late.

Here was my journey (you can see where I started to get disoriented):

Here are some pictures from my journey:

There were 0 hills on this run, and the park is right next to a high-traffic interstate (ie. very loud), but it's better than a paved 3 mile trail. I miss my Blackhand Gorge and Dillon State Park. I'll be visiting them this weekend...