Red Rock Quarry Run and Ride

I wanted to mountain bike today. It's addictive! And the more comfortable and skilled I get at it, the more fun and addictive it is. I can see myself in about ten years doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and mountain biking. There's probably a ten step program for this problem and I'll look into it when the time comes.

I decided to drive over to North Conway and park at the Pudding Pond Conservation area and loop over to Red Rock Quarry and back. My scheduled longish run (only 8-10 miles this week because it is a rest week on my schedule) could be followed with some awesomely fun and challenging mountain biking on the single track there! The run went fine. Actually, (let's be honest here) I just wanted to get it done so I could get on the bike! I ran quite fast for those technical trails with 3200 feet of climbing! I even caught myself bending over with my hands on my knees gasping like a 100 meter sprinter at the top of one of the climbs. This is good stuff! I really don't work very hard in my training most of the time. Today I ran 8.37 miles in 1:43, which is about 12:20 pace. It doesn't sound like much, but if you saw the trails, you'd be impressed!

But more importantly, I finished quick enough to get on the bike for a good long ride. The first half mile or so of my ride was a little difficult by my standards. I climbed up the High Trail, which is rocky and rooty with a pretty good incline. I kept stopping and looking ahead. Then I'd tell myself "you can do it. At least try it." And I'd try it and end up putting a foot down, or stopping, or (on one occasion) falling off the bike. But once that stretch was over, it was nicely challenging, but do-able. My quads were tired from the run but boy, did I have fun!

Tomorrow will be an easy 4 miles with strides. I'll probably take the show on the road (pavement) so I can run a single digit per mile pace for a change. I'll try to stay off the bike, but I'm not making any promises.