Pipeline Trail again

I had plans to run the Pipeline Trail weekly this summer until I started hearing tales of rattlesnakes being seen on single track. Since I am slow and usually run alone – it worries me that I might run into one and get bit – so have stayed on either roads, paved trails, or wider trails.

A bit cooler and overcast this morning – so I headed back up to run the Pipeline Trail. I just love it up there (once you get past all the cars doing to the cub scout camps). Lots of runners, hikers and bikers on the trail. Most of them were pretty gracious. I did get frustrated with one group of 5 mountain bikers that had one rider who either had lousy gears or was lousy at gearing and they would stop and wait for her to catch up – about the time I caught up and passed them and then had to give way for them to pass me again. It was getting annoying, but I think she dropped down at Church Fork since the other four passed me before then and I never saw her again.

A great day for running. Overcast and even slightly drizzly until 6 miles were down. After that the sun came out and things started heating up.

I moved up to 3 minutes running/1 minute walking for my long run today. I'll increase it to 4/1 in September. I am in no rush – just want my endurance to get back to where it was. I can feel the legs and the lungs slowly coming back. It wasn't a struggle today like it was when I ran the trail in June. And the last couple of miles I even put some speed on during the downhills. Nice to see a bit of progress.

As I was finishing up, I starting thinking of a song that expresses my love for my mountains and trails. I don't have a ton of happy memories from vacations as a child, but there was one song my mother taught us that we sang on trips that puts my sentiments out there:

I love the mountains,

I love the rolling hills,

I love the fountains,

I love the daffodils,

I love the firesides,

When the lights are low,

Boom di ada, boom di ada, boom di ada, boom di yay,

Boom. Boom. Boom.