My "dirt dogs"

The conditions on the trails in Columbia are rapidly improving from the time of my last post. The sun has been out in abundance the past few days, drying out the gravel and grass from most of the melted snow and rainfall.

Still, you can count on the spring showers and storms as we continue to roll through April.

That's why I've always had two pairs of running shoes to use on the trails.

One is for good conditions and I try to keep these shoes in good shape. That means not wearing them a day or two after a rainfall to avoid getting them muddy. They are usually relatively new shoes that I have purchased within the last year.

Dirt dogs on the left and better shoes on the right

I keep another pair for the day of a rainfall or to wear a few days after it has rained. This helps you to still be able to get in a creative workout without worrying about destroying a pair of shoes everytime you run after a rainfall. It's good for this second pair of shoes to be older and ones you aren't worried about getting dirty. I usually just use my former "good weather" shoes as my bad weather shoes once I get a new pair. It's a continuous cycle that begins again once I find a good new pair of shoes on sale!

Once you have this old pair, you can run through the trees and grassy areas to continue to have fun running even after bad weather conditions.