Rich on Running: Lynn Woods has strong appeal

Congratulations to everyone who ran the Lynn Woods Summer Cross Country Races in their season opener last Wednesday.I would especially like to congratulate my Item colleagues Chris Cuddy, Chris Stevens and Kait Taylor.Kait ran the long race, the 4.6-mile Tour de Lynn Woods #1, as part of her preparation for a Tough Mudder challenge at Gunstock this past weekend. It was her first-ever run in the Lynn Woods series.”It absolutely helped me,” she said. “The entire thing was trails. You might have run on flat ground for five minutes.”Before Wednesday’s race, she said, “I think running in the woods is more fun than running in the road. I can’t really explain why. I like jumping over roots and off of rocks. It feels more of like an obstacle run almost. You have rocks and hills.”Or, in the case of the Tough Mudder challenge ? jumping, swimming, monkey bars that had been greased, electric shocks, and crawls through mud and under barbed wire ? up and down Gunstock four times, in about four hours.”My ankles are sore this week,” she said.She also skinned both elbows.While Kait trained for her Tough Mudder on the long run, Chris Cuddy, Chris Stevens and I all ran the short (2.2-mile) race.Like Kait, Chris Stevens also ran her first summer cross country race at Lynn Woods.”It was harder than I thought it was going to be,” she said. “There were more hills on this particular route. I had run straight in and out on a 5K, the Spring Fling. This veered off a different path.”Of all the different paths in the Woods, the one she listed as the toughest had a familiar ring.”The Goat Path,” she said. “It was the worst, the hardest. I ran pretty much everything else. It was good. I really enjoyed it.”Before the race, she said that her goal was “just not to hurt myself. I want to improve.” She said that she usually runs the beach and not hills, but that “I’m hoping to get better.”It sounds like mission accomplished for week one.”I felt fine the next day,” she said.Lynn Woods veteran Chris Cuddy approached the race with multiple goals.”I wanted to go over the hill without it intimidating me,” he said, “in 18, 19 minutes. I did the same race 10 years ago, in the same time I ran it (last Wednesday).”He listed his game plan – “Beat the hill, not be sluggish, and be strong” – and added, “I met those expectations. I’m almost 40 years old. The level of consistency makes me feel somewhat good.”Not only did he have a mental game plan, he ran half the course before the race, “just to loosen up,” he said.That’s the appeal of the Woods ? a place that draws you in early to practice, and keeps you coming back each week and each year. Yet each time you visit, you’re aware of their ruggedness.As Chris Cuddy said: “The Woods get intimidating. They’re kind of scary. I have a love-hate relationship with these woods. It’s a nice challenge.”Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].