Happy New Year!
Brian and I are really killing it so far this year.
We went to the local trail running group’s Resolution Rendezvous Run (because I’m going to be so social in 2019!!) The run was a low-key, run-as-much-as-you-want kind of thing, with distance options of anything up to 38 miles. We were planning to do the 14 miles up to Blackrock and back (7 each way for a total of 14).
I hid in the car until the last possible second telling Brian how this was a stupid idea and that I wished we’d just done our own thing.
As we were getting our packs ready, we realized that we’d left the cooler at home. No biggie for me. I was only missing an orange I’d thrown in there for after the run. But all of Brian’s water bottles were in the cooler. He had no water and no way of carrying any water. I had my hydration bladder about 3/4 filled with water. I opened it up and emptied my Hydro Flask into it. We would have to share. It was unseasonably warm out, so I wasn’t sure 2 liters would be enough for both of us for 14 technical and hilly miles. Never mind the inconvenience of both of us having to stop every time he needed to drink. Brian has a tendency to not drink enough anyway, so I had a feeling we were setting ourselves up for a tough run.
We sheepishly (okay, that was only me) joined the group. Someone commented on my Conquer the Cove race shirt and I dropped my glove in a mud puddle. We started running. Brian and I ran with a few people for a minute or two as they passed us. Within two miles, we were on our own. This was my fault, not Brian’s. I’m slow on trails. Okay, maybe I’m just slow. Which is a little frustrating because I’ve been running almost twice as much as Brian has lately.
On the last big climb up to Skyline Drive, we started gaining on the little group ahead of us. For a while I thought we could catch them. We picked up our pace a little, but they must have too. As Skyline Drive came into view we saw that a bigger group was there waiting. We watched as the little group we had been following caught up to them. For a second, we thought they’d wait for us too. But no, they all just took off up the trail. Huh.
We each drank some of my water before turning around and heading back to the car. We didn’t even make it to the summit of Blackrock.
Brian turned around to say something to me and tripped over a foot-high chain strung across the trail.
Winning 2019, we are!
Hope you’re off to a better start.
Sugar Hollow to Skyline Drive and back:
The snow really is beautiful. I love how it sparkles in the sunlight.
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