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I went out to Shelby Farms on Friday afternoon to run. I usually don't put too much thought into exactly where I'm going to run when I get there. I decide on one of two places to park, and from there, just take off. I set my legs on autopilot and they just run. So I started off on the Tour de Wolf trail expecting the usual...

But instead I was faced with the challenge of getting across the overflowing dam up by the lake. With iphone mostly unprotected in my shirt pocket, I imagined scenes of falling into the rushing water, breaking my ankle, and drowning my phone. The ankle would heal; the phone would not. So I turned left to run my next-in-line default course: the high school cross country route. I ran with a friend from high school many years after we'd graduated and without discussing where we'd go, we found ourselves a mile into the race course. This time from a mile in, I switched over to the college cross country route, which I have run far fewer times. When that course ran out, I found the paved path that took me back to my car. 

I know I've said before that I could run out there every day. Five times a week during CC season for 3 years in high school, plus every now and then in college is still not enough to make me bored of the 4500 acres. I find new places to run all the time, but still go back to my favorites. I didn't take this picture, but it's one of my favorite spots in the trails:

It's located right next to an old barn, beyond the graveyard, and I just have to wonder about the story behind that. 

There's something comfortable about running in your old favorite spots. Without directions to think about, you can let your mind wander wherever it wants to go. It's set on autopilot too.