Theodore Roosevelt Island - Trail Review

Sometimes, I just don't feel like venturing outside of the beltway to find some trails for my run. Luckily, I can head on over to give a shout out to Teddy and do some short laps around the Theodore Roosevelt Island.

The island is a great little gem in North Arlington, right off the GW Parkway.  The parking lot is accessible from the North bound lanes of the GW parkway, and their is ample parking to go around if you get there reasonably early.  (I have arrived close to 10am and there were many open spots.) Another awesome thing about this park's location is that it links up with the Mount Vernon trail, so you can even run there via the well maintained and paved bike / foot traffic trail if you so choose.  Also, it is a stone's throw from the C&O Canal Towpath, and is directly next to an access point for the Potomac Heritage trail (same parking lot, right by car entrance way).

Each blaze green lap at Teddy is about 1.3 miles - so while I wouldn't head out there for a 20 miler, it is great for some shorter runs.  Also, on April 1, the bathrooms will open back up for the season - something us distance junkies nearly always note.  The laps are flat, the trail is well maintained, and you will usually see quite a few other people out for runs and walks with families and friends of both the two and four legged variety.  Despite the heavy use, and the 'as close to road without being asphalt' trails, it's a great way to satisfy the craving for some mud on the shoes.  It's also proven to be a fantastic wind blocker, thanks to the trees that cover the island.  If you live in NOVA and haven't checked out Teddy Roosevelt, I highly suggest you do even if you are not a trail runner.  It is a very enjoyable trail that breaks up some of the monotony of asphalt pounding.

More information on the park and how to get there can be found at http://www.nps.gov/this/index.htm.

Help me raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital! Your donation funds patient care, research, and is tax deductible! Click here to donate!

Happy Trails!
-Melinda

Something bigger than running.

I've been starting to increase my mileage and generally get back into the swing of training as I gear up for the Mohican 50 Miler in OH in mid June.  (As soon as I figure out the best way to format my training plan I will post what I think is a very reasonable 50 Miler training plan as well.)  Last weekend I had a very successful double with a generally comfortable 18 miler on Saturday followed by 10 miles mostly on trails on Sunday. And today, I had perhaps my best weekday run in a month during the "Snowquester" which lacked in snow, but did give me a day to work from home and fit in a mid day run instead of a 440AM run.

However, despite my good fortune of being back to logging miles, I felt the need to do more.  Not more for my running; but more in general.  So I've signed up to be part of Team St. Jude.  My initial goal is a modest goal of raising $1,000 over the next 3 months prior to my 50 Miler for St. Jude Children's Hospital.  I genuinely hope that some of you consider making a donation on my behalf.

I chose St. Jude as a charity to run for because of their dedication to pediatric medicine and research.  Not only do they help children that are far less fortunate than myself and may never know the joy of bounding down a path on a hot summer day; but, they provide their care at no cost to the families of the patients that receive it.

Please help me reach my goal by making a donation to St. Jude through the link here.

Thanks and Happy Trails!

-Melinda