Salem Lake Trail Running

This post is a tribute to my favorite nearby running spot, Salem Lake.  I found Salem Lake shortly after we moved to Kernersville, and my first time there got lost–well, not lost since I had my iPhone, but took a wrong turn and ended up with a 9 miler instead of a 7 miler.  After weeks of not running.  In the cold, sleet-y weather.  With not enough clothing and no food or water.  Good times!  I’ve since learned my lesson, haha!

From the website: Salem Lake has been called the hidden diamond in the city of Winston-Salem. Located minutes away from downtown Winston-Salem, Salem Lake offers a 365-acre lake with a 7-mile trail that offers a scenic view of the lake at all times.

I ran the Salem Lake 30K in 2012 as preparation for the Raleigh Marathon.  In 2013, I ran the Salem Lake 7 miler as my last racing hurrah (I knew in my heart I was pregnant–the next day I took the test to confirm it! so I didn’t push it past a 9 min/mile pace)  I had hopes of doing the same races year after year, but this past September I just didn’t think 7 miles was doable, with Asher being just 4 months old.  And I’m kinda of the mindset, if I can’t run the way I want to (fast!) then why bother racing (unless it’s with friends, that’s different).

So, on Friday January 2nd… After 15 months of not visiting my favorite trail… I returned for a 4 mile speed session (1 mile warm-up, 1 mile in 8:22, 1/2 mile jog, 1 mile in 8:04, 1/2 mile cool down).  It felt awesome!  Only 1 tiny snafu: my 5 year old Garmin decided to take 4-freakin-ever to locate satellites.  So I was really pumped to be there, so excited to start running and… womp.  The watch took like 10 min to locate satellites.  Since it’s a 7 mile trail, it is marked every mile, but the mile markers don’t coincide with where I parked–aka, I needed my watch to show distance, so I knew where to turn around.  Plus, I’m kinda anal, and I just love knowing my pace and distance.

I don’t know if any of you runners are the same way, but I like seeing pics of myself running.  Maybe it’s being vain, but I guess it’s just a visual of how awesome I feel when I run.  Or maybe it just proves I ran.  Also–don’t get me wrong–I haven’t always loved running.  I was a sprinter way back in high school (ugh that was over 10 years ago!) so distance running did not come naturally to me at all.  And getting into shape sucks, it really does.  So my goal now is to never get completely out of shape again.  The coming back is rough, but once you’re there and you’re at the point where running feels good… oh man, does it feel good!

Here’s a collection of my favorite Salem Lake memories, 3 years in:

Where is your favorite place to run?