Frosty start to a beautiful fall morning

I recently had one of those days where everything was aligned, and an ideal day in the outdoors was the result.  I had booked the day off work to meet a friend for lunch and had a (rare) free weekday morning.  I decided I would head out to the trails where my next big race is being held.  The weather was compliant with my schedule – it turned out to be a beautiful fall morning.  The sun was shining on the frost that had settled on the fallen leaves overnight.  The forest was lit up with the orange, red, and yellow colors that make fall in Southern Ontario a beautiful time of year.  On top of all of this, I had some new Arc’Teryx gear to run in.

Beautiful fall trails

I got out of the car at the trailhead parking lot and the cool morning air definitely had me thinking I would need to bundle up.  In this exposed spot, the sun wasn’t warming me up as fast as the wind cooled me off.  I decided to stick to my plan of a light base layer and my new Arc’teryx Trino Jersey as an outer layer.  I wasn’t super confident it would be enough, but figured I could retreat to the car if I needed more layers.  It turned out that the Trino Long Sleeve jersey was the perfect outer for this day.  The Gore-Tex Windstopper front fabric kept the chill out while I was moving, and the soft and stretchy Altasaris fabric in the back kept me well ventilated.  It felt very lightweight and while it isn’t called a jacket, it is definitely a great outer layer for cool days like this one where precipitation isn’t an issue.

Another part of what made this run great was that I had never been on the trails before.  This also meant that the main challenge I faced was translating the written route description from the race website to the network of trails before me.  The rear stuff pocket on the Trino Jersey was perfect for this as I could easily stow my folded up route description and map while I headed for the next intersection.  The pockets were perfectly placed, and fit everything I would want to carry when running. The open top pocket is great when things warm up and you need somewhere to stuff a beanie or gloves.  The zipped pocket is ideal for keys, mp3 player, and a gel – all the stuff that I wouldn’t want to lose.

The Trino pockets are awesome – stuff pocket for easy access and zipped for security

As I clicked over the kilometres on this great run, the Trino Jersey was barely noticeable (in a good way.)  I was amazed at how well it controlled my own climate as the one outside changed.  When I came out of the trail and onto a stretch along a breezy open meadow, the Windstopper front fabric protected me.  In the sheltered singletrack where the sun was beaming through the few remaining leaves, the fabric kept me from overheating so that I could keep going without unzipping, or removing, layers.  The Trino Jersey was definitely a perfect outer layer for the cool, dry conditions on this idyllic fall day.

Perfect day for the Arc’teryx Trino Jersey

This was definitely one of those remarkable running days even though I spent much of it making wrong turns and backtracking.  It was a beautiful weekday morning during one of my favourite seasons, I had kilometres of trails virtually to myself, and thankfully the Trino Jersey was up to the challenge.  It doesn’t take much for running gear to ruin an otherwise great day so its nice to know what you can depend on.  I definitely plan to depend on this piece from Arc’teryx for many more fall and winter runs.