Had another great run on the Rockcreek trail in Rockville. Found the start of the trail at Lake Needwood and ran to where is started the day before at Veirs Mills Road. In the two days I ran , 2:40 minutes I cover from Lake Needwood to about 2K into the "Rock Cliff Park" . I cover at least 15 of the 20 miles of trails. I highly recommend these trails, with the exception of crossing the odd road you wouldn't even know that your running in a large urban area , no problem with the air either ! See http://www.bikewashington.org/trails/rockcreek/md.htm .

I started off wanting to run the trail around lake Needwood but there was construction at the Dam and the trail was closed. I didn't realize it but I was at the North end of the Rock Creek Trail ... just lucky ! So off I went , beautiful sunny late fall day , temps around 13C .. a little warmer then the day before. The trail was beautiful, big old Oak/Ash/Beech forest. Some of the Oak trees still had lots of leaves, they were a copper colour and with the sun shine it made them glow ! The trail runs though a valley between very exclusive homes, There were rock outcrops here and there and you could see where climbers had left hardware in rock face . Not much on the way of hills , more or less flat . There were these neat little arched bridges that crossed the river here and there . Came across a half dozen or so roads on the way to Viers Mills but only one was a major thoroughfare.

I didn't eat anything before I ran at 12:3O pm and I was started to feel the lack of energy ! Legs were a wee bit tired from the day before and they actually had a bit of a burn on . Rarely do I feel that way but hey I havent been doing too much running outside lately . I was wearing shorts , a metal shirt and a light nylon wind breaker . I was comfortable to warm , probably could have lost the jacket !

So its back to the snow tomorrow , when winter sets in and things freeze up I will attempt to take to the road again , all be it with a layer or two of clothing on.

Ron.