I had a shortened workday today, and I either wanted to: 1) go out for a run; or 2) go out for a hike on the trail. And in the end I chose 3) go out for a run on the trail. This is despite the fact that yesterday was squats day and it’s a good mile and a half run just to the trailhead. Sometimes I wonder if my critical thinking skills are quite intact… Anyway, it wound up being 4.5 slow miles. I wasn’t ready for a long run and the trail is quite challenging so there were plenty of parts that were a challenge to walk up, not even run up. I ran where I could and walked the rest.
I love getting out on the trail, though. It feels so grounding to be able to get away from the roads and the cars and hang out in the woods for a bit. I saw plenty of wildlife: two big whitetail does, a couple of woodpeckers, and two mountain bikers (species Gyrokinetus petronus). (My limited knowledge of Greek roots is showing… with Latinate endings, even.)
I live in the foothills of some of the oldest mountains in the world, formed when Pangaea was formed– which is pretty cool to think about. This rock I ran over could be one of the oldest rocks on the planet. It’s been around for millions of years… and here I am stepping across it a few times. It reminds me that my time here is short on the scale of things, so I should be careful to make it count.
Running While Fat 