Whitewater

This rave run has been a long time coming and because of that, I apologize profusely to the Miami Whitewater Forest Board of Trustees... if there is such a thing. So, without further ado... I give you Miami Whitewater.

I got a bit of a late start this morning. The coffee was tasty and the air was chilled to perfection. The sun was high in the sky by the time I hit the beautiful asphalt trail that runs through the park situated off of the Dry Fork Rd exit on I-74 just before you get to Indiana.

There is an inner loop (1.68mi) and an outer loop (7.85mi). I hit the inner loop for a warm-up lap and then took it to the outer loop for what ended up being a marathon-paced run. The shin felt good and the air was cool, albeit humid, so I kept those middle 7.5 miles pretty low. I finished with another inner loop that was even faster to put me over 10 miles for the day... 10.41mi to be exact. I would like to start bumping up those long runs but I don't want to re-aggravate the left leg, so I'll continue where I am until I can easily put three days in a row together. I'm still getting in 30-35 miles a week and the Monumental half-marathon is still a ways off, so I've got time. But I digress.

What sets this trail apart from others in Cincinnati is the terrain. It's relatively flat (only 80' difference in elevation along the route) and that's not easy to find 'round here. It's certainly a welcome break from the larger rollers in College Hill. The path is very rural, too. It begins with a wooded section that runs along the Whitewater River I call the lowlands. There are a lot of wild turkey in here and I also have an owl friend that sets up shop along the same tree line each morning. You then make your way up into the highlands passing corn and soybean fields along the way. There are some decent elevation changes in this section as you head into the wetlands. This is where all the birds are. I have to assume that Miami Whitewater is a bird-watching bonanza. The high grasses and wildflowers make it ideal for them to do the stuff that birds do. It's the only place I've ever seen a real live blue bird. From there, you begin your descent to the river before a final climb to the visitor's center. The inner loop is nice because it allows you to tack on extra mileage when needed.

All in all, a great running trail. Not many walkers venture onto the outer loop so you can really let loose and put in some good miles... much like this morning. It's just nice to not have to worry about cars, lights and crap ass roads. You get out and go. And that bottom picture just became my favorite running photo of all time.