Trail Fail

Tonight was a running with husband night. Last night I ran a 10k by myself on the treadmill (at night, while the babies were asleep). We had an obligation to do in the evening and it was my husbands night off, so I'm dedicating his nights off to my two goals of running a sub 25 min 5k and/or a 10k at a steady pace of 8'30 (I'm currently around an 8'50 pace on my "long" runs).
Anyways, tonight my husband suggested getting out of the city and driving up to a trail. We ran our first trail on mothers day and it was pretty difficult running through gravel and such as opposed to pavement in the city. Little dips and hills gave a comfortable challenge, but nothing too severe. Tonight's trail, however, had the_worst "terrain" at most parts. The trail was unkempt; we recently had some rain and most parts of the trail was soft mud with some parts hardened grooves and pits from bikes, shoes, etc. Then there were parts where the park district had thought it a good idea to put sand over the mud (sounds nice on the feet, but the stroller was zig-zagging and sinking - argh!). Well, I guess a trail runner should be wary of these things and expect them, but when you're pushing a 3 ft wide jogging stroller carrying two ~20lb babies, it becomes questionable if it's safe/comfortable for them.... and well, mommy isn't enjoying her run that much either. Running that way totally makes your run feel really draggy and chaotic and I like running with soft steps and easy glides. It also makes your form all wonky, I think I was heel striking a lot during this run. The babies were a bit whinny in the beginning, but they eased up about halfway into our 45min run and fell asleep probably in our last 10minutes of the run (go figure).  Maybe the bumps actually lulled them to sleep instead of jostling them uncomfortably. Did I mention it's also not the greatest to be running over big, jagged pebbles and chunky gravel in barefoot shoes? Not to mention pushing through this gravel going uphill as the stroller sinks into the gravel... phew.
BUT! I definitely am willing to run trails like this, but a little more stroller friendly to get a break from running in the concrete jungle that is Chicago. The constant stop and goes, dodging of oblivious people, running off of the paved trail in the park into the grass because the tamale vendors (or other random Hispanic food carts) take up the whole trail path, etc. Where, halfway into your run, you feel like you've inhaled tons of city dirt, gross peoples perfumes/colognes that they were to a PARK, and even though your running through a park that has some trees and grass - you know you've inhaled loads of car exhaust from the streets less than an eyes blink away.
Well, that being said, I do love running outdoors and I hope my husband can endure it once the weather gets sweltering here in Chicago once summer hits. It will be a huge challenge to me too, as we are running a bit more together, he's getting a bit faster each time. I'm sure if he keeps with it, he'll be shooting up to an 8' pace and wanting to run longer distances. Yikes! I hope I can keep up, but if I do, I'll need to build up some strength in my legs to do so. I was thinking of doing 200 squats app to get more toned.
I think I've done enough complaining for this blog entry. That's where we are; sticking to regular runs to our local park in the evening after work and venturing into the trails on the weekend. Getting a good bit of new feel on the feet is a good thing though. One thing I do have to say I love about trail running is that once the trail gets smooth (there were some parts on today's trail), that earth under your feet feels great!