Two Days of Hill Climbs

Yesterday I ran up and down Green Mt with BJ with some side trips for a good day of hill work on trails. I tried to upload a video, but it disappeared when I posted. Oh well, it just showed the good hard hill work I was doing. My quads and calves are feeling very strong on the climbs and my cardio fitness feels great.

Today I decided to cap off the week with some more climbing. I took a short drive to Burnt Meadow Mountain and was surprised to see more cars parked at the trail head than I have ever seen before. This is the nicest weekend Maine has had yet this year and it is Sunday, so it makes sense. I almost kept driving, this trail is steep and technical in the second half and hikers who are clinging to rocks as they scramble for foot holds don't appreciate seeing someone "jogging" on the trail. I have had rude comments in the past, such as "you're gonna kill yourself you idiot!" But I decided to pull off the road and go ahead with my planned run.

I passed groups of hikers all the way up and they were all nice. Two different people asked "what are you training for?" Which is a good sign, I look like I'm training for something! I made it to the top in 25 minutes and 13 seconds. I don't know for sure, but I suspect this is the fastest I have ever climbed this mountain. I went down the back side on a less challenging, but longer trail. I turned around at the road and climbed back to the top. Pretty much all the hikers I had passed on my first climb were on the summit now. On my first trip through, I had the summit all to myself.

I ran back down the first trail. I didn't let myself really fly down the trail. I'm three weeks out from Massanutten and a sprain or strain is not something I want right now! Plus, with so many hikers out today I had to be cautious, I didn't want to bump into anyone. I have a little magnetic decal on my car that says "running girl" which was a gift from Bill and Kathy. On the way down I passed a group of guys heading up the trail and several of them nodded knowingly to each other and said in unison, "running girl." It struck me as funny.

So it really wasn't bad sharing the trail with so many people today. It made the run more intersting and fun.