A run in the woods

My parents came up to visit for the weekend to celebrate Makayla's birthday a few days early.  My dad is training for a 100 mile race near Woodstock so on Saturday morning, Jason my dad and I headed down to check out the trails - thank you mom for babysitting the kiddos!  My dad was planning on about 23 miles and Jason and I were thinking we would go about 5-6 miles.  It took us a bit to find the right trial but then we were moving pretty good.  The trails were steep and pretty rocky so we walked a bit to keep our heart rate under control and to stay on our feet (I was the only one who managed not to fall :)  It was a nice change of pace from running on the road, the area was very nice, and the weather was great.  At one point I asked Jason how long we had been going and he said about 50 minutes.  I couldn't believe it!  We finished a steep climb and decided that would be a good spot to turn around.  My dad was on the right trail and had his map and we hoped to see him again in about 4-5 hours at a spot about 20 miles away.  Jason and I had a great run back down to the car and ended up running/hiking for over 2 hours - and felt great!  We think it was about 8ish miles, not bad!We drove around a bit and eventually found the checkpoint where we would meet back up with my dad.  We grabbed a bite to eat then drove back up the mountain to explore.  We walked a short trail to a lookout tower and had a great view of the Shenandoah River and valley.  We've always talked about hiking around the area but hadn't done it yet, it was great and I have a feeling we will be doing more of it.  We drove around a bit more, picked up my dad and headed back home.  I am so impressed by what my dad can do and hope I'm still doing half as much when I am his age!