A blog about running, hiking, dogs and seeing the world
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Affordable, Safe, and Inclusive Housing For All
These are the reasons why I’m choosing Cory Booker at the NH Primary.
So many lists of books to read.
Although, today, I found this from the Critic’s Notebook (NYT)
I’m adding Wendell Berry to top reads in 2020.
Other lists:
Top 10 Outdoor books, although I’ve read most of them.
This looks interesting:
And, of course, the ultimate list, the Best Books of 2019.
I’m currently reading Second Mountain.
My first race of 2020 is the Houston Marathon. This will be my second time running it with Mark. The first time was 2017 and I was living in Colorado. My training was going poorly due to snow and cold, living at 7,000 feet. I got to the starting line not very fit but we ran together and had a great time. The course is flat and runs through so many neighborhoods; my favorite was Rice University. I’m looking forward to seeing Mark and his friends who are also running. I’ve been watching their mileage on Strava, they will all do well!
When I signed up for Houston I was coming off a great summer running season. I was fit and getting faster. Then, I got injured – struggling to run with adductor and muscle soreness – hobbling for hours after after even a short run.
Now I think I have figured out the problem and have started running again with less soreness, but still it’s not super fun to run. I’m doing all kind of exercises, foam rolling, massage and more weight training.
I’m slowly adding miles running and hiking a lot, so in 44 days I’ll be ready. It’s been more fun hiking lately but I love running and can’t wait to travel to Texas and get out of the snow. It’s always fun to meet Mark and have a racecation.
Here in Concord we got about 6 inches of snow this morning. The roads around my house are plowed so I head to the Winant Trails with my dog and snowshoes.
The photo above shows how gorgeous it was this morning. Not a soul out yet. I could hear snowplows in the distance but other than that it was peaceful.
Last night I came very close to signing up for an Ironman and had thoughts of signing up for the Leadville Camp/Run combo. Very dangerous. But instead I walked to the store and bought a pint of Ben & Jerry’s – Peanut Butter Cup.
I woke up with a sugar handover and still undecided about what races to do.
I’m signed up for the Houston Marathon and Umstead but am too injured to run. Okay, not much for Monday Motivation except for starting the day with a great snowshoe hike in the woods with my dog.
We hiked Mount Tom today, the day after Thanksgiving. There were a lot more people and dogs on the trail compared to yesterday on Tecumseh.
I wore snowshoes because reports said some overnight snow and I’m a bit of freak when it comes to hiking alone in the winter so I’m prepared.
I should’ve brought my spikes, but I left them in the car. (Note: always bring spikes.) The monorail is fine and living well on the Avalon and A-Z Trail to Mount Tom. Snowshoes were overkill ,however I feel like I contributed to the overall tidiness of the monorail so I’m okay with it!
The A-Z Trail is steep in sections and I was running out of steam until I met a wonderful couple about 500 yards from the saddle who told me “that’s the worst of it, you’re almost to the saddle and it’s a nice hike to Tom”.
OMG – I love these people. They made me so happy when I was dying from too much uphill and wearing clucky snowshoes when spikes would have sufficed.
The summit was socked in with fog but I don’t care. I made the summit and it was freaking beautiful! So many nice people along the way who loved on my dog even though she barked at them (why is she barking when she typically doesn’t care about other people or dogs?). Every. Single. Hiker. Was. Awesome. And the dogs we met were so freaking cute and happy! It was a great day.
I’m happy to be home after being in mid-winter conditions in Crawford Notch.
4,000 footer Number 2 done – 48-4,000-footers-in-my-49th-year. This goal is getting me out there everyday I can, and pushing my limits and making me do the things I say I’m going to do.
Make. The. Best.Life.