New England Running: The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

So, yesterday Dave and I decided to go check out the portion of the Metacomet-Monadnock trail that traverses the peaks of the Seven Sisters. If you park at the Notch Visitor's Center, the trail begins across the street with a sharp incline, and extends across ridge line towards the Mt. Holyoke Summit House (which happens to be one of my favorite places ever). I had done some hiking in the area, but never with the intention of running. However, I recently heard of the Seven Sisters Trail Race that will be held on May 1st, and I wanted to scope out the terrain.

Photo from Wikipedia (And yes, the views are this good.)

We were out on the trail for about an hour, which we figure was probably somewhere between 3-4 miles. The running was.. interesting. There was just as much climbing as there was flat terrain that was runnable, possibly more climbing. There are lots of roots and rocks and steep uphills, but we found that it made for a pretty enjoyable experience. Normally in a long run or a race, the running becomes the most exhausting part, but on this trail, it seemed that we were best able to relax and catch our breath when we were running. It meant that we weren't trying to navigate steep downhills or climb straight up.

The trail race in May will run the entire out-and-back course of the Seven Sisters Trail, a total of twelve miles. Judging by how hard we worked in running only four, we decided that the race itself will be pretty treacherous. There will probably be quite a few falls, some serious scrapes, and some sooooore muscles by the end. However, I am not at all discouraged. It'll be hard, but I'm pretty excited for the race, and I encourage my Western Mass running friends to check out the race page! (Also, it benefits the Friends of Mt. Holyoke Range, which works on preservation to keep the area free of development!)