Saturday, I got a call from a friend asking if I could run her dog, Peka, that afternoon. She was caught in a work bind and wouldn’t be able to take her out herself.

Of course, I agreed. There’s nothing like running trails with a dog except, maybe, running trails with two dogs.

So we loaded Peka and Seriously up in the car and headed out to the trailhead. Driving with two rambunctious dogs slobbering all over you isn’t exactly fun, but thankfully we all made it in one piece (though my shoulder was quite damp with doggy drool).

When we let them out of the car they barreled toward the trail full force and almost knocked a guy over (and he was a pretty hefty guy, too). We apologized and put them on leashes until we got to the side trails, which were pretty deserted, as we expected.

We ran up Black Bear Trail and then over to Brown Bear, two of my very favorite trails. No one was around. In fact, we passed only two people once we veered off the main trail. I love feeling as if we have the place to ourselves. The Campbell trails are near the city but connect all the way to the Chugach Mountains so there is a wide variety of routes and technical levels. Once you know the way around, it’s fairly easy to escape the crowds (and I call three or four people a crowd) and run alone with nothing but birch and spruce trees, along with the occasional moose and bear.

It was an easy-paced run day, and I didn’t wear a watch. We ran for about 5.5 miles, and the dogs put in considerably more. Peka never runs out of energy. She’s a one-year-old husky, bred for speed and endurance, and watching her run is like nothing else.

I’ve been running more and more without a watch, and I love it. I base my pace on effort level, not time, and it’s been so liberating. I hadn’t realized how often I glanced at my wrist. Even on easy runs, I’d sneak a look just to see how fast/slow I was going. Why? Because the time was readily available? Because I have a compulsive personality? Whatever the case, running trails without a watch is a beautiful thing. I notice my surroundings more. I notice my body more. It makes for some deep-thinking-in-the-moment runs, instead of worrying about my pace or if I’m as fast as I used to be or, god forbid, a few seconds slower. Whatever, eh?

Have some great runs, everyone, regardless of how fast or slow you choose to go.