Running (Trail) 1:16:34 [3] 9.25 mi (8:17 / mi)
slept:6.6 weight:177lbs
Wakefield Park, Fairfax County, VA. I had the afternoon off to go to my friend's funeral. After that I took advantage of the sunlight and had a nice longish run in unusually warm weather (70F). I'm not sure how far I went. I stayed mostly on the many trails but did get some time west of Accotink Creek on parts without trails. To finish, I went out and back up the Long Branch Trail to Woodland Way. This trail has been extended since last I was on it and had I known that, I may have chosen to run out and back up it farther to begin with. Instead, I did get to parts of the park which have been turned over to the moutain bikers and that I hadn't fully explored. The trails on the big hill were really windy; orienteers might not use them a lot of the time, even though they are everywhere. I ran with my GPS and could tell from my own memory that it was missing parts of the many trail bends and switch-backs. The GPS registered 8.66 miles when I was done and tracked the whole time but I'm increasing the distance to better account for what I thought I was really doing. Whenever I watched the pace readings, they would jump around wildly even though I kept it steady. I got pretty tired on the run and was actually somewhat tired starting out. I still enjoyed it a lot.
Overall, Wakefield Park is very narrow but usable for orienteering; It's mostly flat. It has the usual dot knolls, ditches and a few reentrants. There are a few boulders too but the prime features are the many trails and open areas good for short courses or training. It has the added benefit of being connectable with Lake Accotink which we already use.