If you run regularly you will know what fartlek is. If you don’t like running, I will define it for you. Here’s my definition: Fartlek is a training run where the pace and terrain are varied to enhance your enjoyment. Something like that. I think of it as a fun trail run without my heart rate monitor.
Sasamat Lake
This Sunday was nice and sunny, so it was a perfect time for this pro landscape blogger to leave his laptop alone and head into the woods for some forest bathing. It feels great to move and organize my thoughts as I run in the forest. Trail running rules!
I’m lucky because Sasamat Lake is in my neighbourhood and it’s small enough for it to warm up in summer for swimming. People were swimming there today and it’s only March 31st. Freaks.
Terrain
I did two loops of the 3.2 km trail that follows the outline of the lake. I didn’t have my Polar sports watch because I knew the pace I wanted: just hard enough to make talking annoying and below race pace.
The terrain varied nicely from beach sand and asphalt to rocks and a well-worn trail. There is also a narrow bridge that takes you across the lake. I stopped there briefly to examine a trout just caught by a middle-aged dude. He let the fish get away. Oops. Time to bail. See ya.
I obviously didn’t stop when I ran past four teenage bikini girls but my pace allowed me to note that their beauty rivalled that of the lake shoreline. The beaches were busy as well.
Two natives dominate the forest understory. Polystichum munitum is a sword fern and Gaultheria shallon is salal. We see both plants in our ornamental landscapes. Incidentally, I was shocked recently when I discovered that someone had written an entire book on salal! Sadly, I didn’t finish it.
Satisfied with my 6.5 km fun run, I drove home. Then I made my favourite Kale-Maca smoothie and collapsed on the couch with the latest copy of BBC Gardener’s World magazine.
You know where I’m heading with this. The only thing left to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon after a nice run in the woods was to take a sweet, uninterrupted nap.
I can’t think of a better activity on a Sunday afternoon than trail running. It gets me moving and gives me time to organize my thoughts. Give it a try.
