Blood, Sweat, and tears in the Newfield Woods...and mud, too.

Coach Jack emailed me something like, "Bear Mt will have more climbing and more rocks than Nipmuck, so you'd better get out on that kind of stuff as much as you can." With that in mind, I set out into the wilds of southern Maine for yesterday's 12 miler. Tote roads, washed out old town roads, and overgrown snowmobile trails brought me west from rte 11 toward the New Hampshire border. Hills? Holy Hell were there hills! Rocks? Absolutely! There were also ice patches, mud, thorns, barbed wire, and water crossings. It was tough going.

At the top of the highest hill on the loop, I paused to catch my breath. Glancing up, I saw 8 or 9 turkey vultures silently circling overhead. I wondered if they could see the blood running down my legs from way up there. Perhaps they had been watching me climb that hill and were thinking, "let's hang out here for a bit. I think she's about to drop." I picked up the pace a little. It can't be a good sign to have turkey vultures circling.

This has been a good week of running so far, all on tired legs from Northern Nipmuck and mountain biking last weekend. My taper for Bear Mountain starts next week and I'm ready for it!