When I was a kid growing up in Southwest Pennsylvania I truly believed that the only reason to cross the Delaware River into New Jersey was to go to the beach. When we would cross the river, the first several miles of "The Garden State" were actually just a lot of concrete, strip malls, and overgrown weeds. And then it was a terribly boring hour and a half drive through what seemed like endless miles of pine trees. When my wife first mentioned that we should look at homes in New Jersey I thought she was joking.

This is my #runforsteem post for this week. Check out @jumowa's Weekly Run for Steem Challenge to learn how to participate!

Fast forward 10 years and I am a veritable Garden State cheerleader!

All sarcasm and exaggeration aside, I truly began to appreciate South Jersey when I moved back east from the the Pacific Northwest when I was 30. The Pinelands and adjoining salt marshes make for one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, but the beauty is subtle, and requires getting deep off the main roads.

My training for the Broad Street 10 Miler (next Sunday) has been seriously lagging, and although I know I am not going to be in great shape for it, I figured I had one last chance this weekend to get an extended run in. I decided to take my two kids to Black Run Preserve, a fascinating tract of land that used to be a significant part of the State's cranberry production. At one time, South Jersey provided the vast majority of the cranberries consumed in America. Today, Black Run is in the process of returning to wilderness, but the cranberry bogs, along with all the man-made dykes and damns, provide a unique landscape.

My kids were on their bikes, and we headed out on the 5k trail (parts of the Long Trail and Bog Trail), marked exceptionally well.

The photo below is a good example of how many of the trails follow the dykes between the bogs. Also, lots and lots of soft pine needles make for a very soft surface to run on, making this area a dream for a longer run.

South Jersey is not known for hills, but the bogs also provide some ups and downs. The kids struggled with the ups, but were thrilled with the downs.

The trails wind around many bogs like this one.

The photo below was taken along what I imagine was a reservoir, much deeper than the bogs, and now completely dry. All along the walls of the reservoir are little bumps that you can see in the photo, which I am assuming provided drainage all around the reservoir instead of one stream. The bumps make for fun running and cycling.

The photo below shows another path on a dyke, and a cut-out where water was allowed to flow from one bog to the next.

Water, water everywhere, and sometimes the trails are almost completely awash. You can kind of see the tea colored water below, known as cedar water. All over this region we have this cedar water, which is a result of the dark tannin from the pine trees dying the water. The water is actually quite clean, and when you cup it in your hand it looks clear, but in streams and ponds it is quite dark.

Below is a remnant of the cranberry farms, a dam that is now just letting the water flow as it pleases. When these bogs were used for production there was a very sophisticated system of reservoirs, bogs and dams that would allow for massive amounts of water to be moved about depending on the season.

And the last photo, below, is what a 6 year-old looks like after a 6-mile mountain bike ride!

All in all, this was an awesome way to trick myself into doing a solid 6 miles. I took it nice and easy, as all I am trying to do at this point is get my body used to moving continuously for 1 1/2 hours. The run felt great, so I am confident that Sunday's race will work out fine. I will not be running a pr, but I will thoroughly enjoy a jaunt from one end of my city to the other with 30,000 friends. More on that next week!

Check out @runningproject where I lead a beginner and intermediate 5k Training Program

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