The North Shore

Yesterday was the first trip ever to run on the North Shore. I've never run there I think only because I've never been up there and was a little leary of going through those trails alone. This was an "organised" run to be done on part of the Dirty Duo course for the March 1st race.
I showed up first with a pack of mountain bikers heading out soon after I arrived. A few minutes later two cars showed up with two people each and it turned out this was the group doing the 25km run for those racing in the 50km portion of the race. There was Simon, Sarah, Magnus, and Erin. We started out moving slow as Sarah, the one with knowledge of where we were going, was feeling sick yet still took us around the trails. It was good because I have to do more slow running to not burn out after two hours running as I've done in the past. The trails were marvelous - rugged, soaking wet, and beautiful forests. It was like a Hollywood movie where someone is lost in the harsh wilderness. The trails were very different from Chuckanut so I was glad we weren't flying along. There were lots of uphills and downhills and it made for great training. We cut the day short as we were all soaked and most of the group hungry and wanting breakfast. That was fine by me as I now knew more about some of the trails and could come back on my own to explore more. I liked it so much, when I got home I ordered online a map for the North Shore trails. In a few weeks when I'm not working there's more organised training runs so will be back to cover more ground. Totally looking forward to heading up there on my own as well.