Shootin' at the walls of heartache. BANG BANG
I spent a long time in the car today, and when that happens, I tend to listen to a lot of radio. When I get tired of thinking and/or being upset or can't get a consistent signal, I switch from listening to NPR to channel surfing. It pretty much always leads to amazing, varied and embarrassing (if anyone else was around to hear me singing) results. Unfortunately, you sometimes end up with "The Warrior" in your head when you go for a run.
Today, I found myself traveling eastbound on the Kancamagus Highway heading from from the greater Lin-Wood metropolitan area. As I walked out of my meeting, it started to rain. So, I called D and told her that I had decided to scrap my plan of running on the Lincoln Woods Trail in hopes of making it further east ahead of the rain. I told her I would give her a call to let her know my plans. Of course, after I made a stop for gas and a Gatorade...er...G, the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, as soon as you leave the big city, cell service completely ceases. I stopped at the Greeley Ponds Trail thinking it would be groovy, but no cell service. So, I kept driving. Eventually, I arrived at the perfect running spot: Bear Notch Road. But, still no cell service. Ah, screw it. She needs a little excitement in her life. I figured that Bear Notch Road gets enough snowmobile traffic that someone would eventually find me.
Since this blog is ostensibly about running, I guess I should mention the actual run. It was great. The snow was slushy, but pretty solidly packed. I ended up running in for about half an hour. The snowmobile trail sign denoted that I had covered 3.1 miles from my parking space, but I sincerely doubt it was that far. If so, I managed to run 3 miles, mostly uphill, in loose slushy snow at 10-minute pace. I know I'm a stud, but it felt too easy for it to be that. (If anyone knows for sure, I ran from the gate to the second snowmobile trail junction/forest service road. Just past the great outlook to Mt. Chocorua.) It took me about 3 minutes less on the way back. I felt pretty solid the whole way albeit a bit under-stretched (from 2 days of meetings) and under-fueled (from...well, just not eating enough). Besides, how could I not have a great run? A closed road in the mountains, with each step I felt like I was traveling deeper and deeper into the woods. Good stuff.
Once in the car, it still took me a while before I had cell service. When I did, I called D. She yelled at me.
2 comments:
The closed portions of both Bear Notch and Hurricane Mountain Rds are excellent Hilly long trail runs in the winter. Most years I do a good end to end to end run on each of them. Snow Mobile signs aren't reliable for mileage (or much of anything) you should have worn the GPS ;)
Sweet run. Bear Notch is great in the winter. As Laurel said, Hurricane is great too, especially if you take it to the top of Black Cap. Snowmoible groomed all the way. I'm ready for mud though.
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