Back to back 20s

 With the holiday season on the horizon, time is now for front loading miles for my coming Thanksgiving Day meal. What better way than putting in a couple of back to back long runs. So after racing on Friday night, I was back at the WWC Saturday morning for more miles. 20 miles would be the exact number. Surprisingly, the trails were relatively quiet. Most of my run was spent running along the river. I did add in one section off the Rail trail. I guess years ago that they used this as some type of service road for the area. It is not officially a part of the WWC trail system, but is an easy add-on. It goes for a maybe a mile before ending adding about 2 miles on to my Rail loop mileage. I like it because it is some new and different. It lets be take an unbeaten path. 

Sunday, I headed down to Crowders Mt. I like running down the Ridgeline trail to the King Mt. trail back. This makes for a little more than a 20 mile trip. While no Mt. biker are allowed, there are number of runners and hikers on the trail.

Two memories stand out from this run.

 I was climbing the Turn Back trail. Plenty of people were making their way up to Pinnacle Overlook. Some were faster than others. Some were standing and resting from the hard climb. At one point, I was passing these two gentlemen. They looked to be father and son. The father looks to be about my age.  I am guessing that he was taking his rest break. I can tell that he is looking at me as I made my way  running up the steep hill. I wave as I am passing by them. He looks at me and asked my age. Of which, I reply without stopping or gasping for breath. He, then, just shakes his head. I wondered what he is thinking as I disappeared up the trail.

The second instance occurred near the Boulder Overlook. I saw this woman coming down the trail toward me. As we were about to pass, I said “morning”. To which, she replied “Looking strong young fellow”. I replied back that I was “doing my best”. But as I thought about it, I was trying to remember the last time someone called me a “young fellow”. Definitely, it has been a long time. I chuckled to myself as speed off down the trail.

Here’s hoping that you are finding time to get out and enjoy nature.

The Cool Down Runner