The iconic white blaze marking the Appalachian Trail.
Yesterday I met my dad at the AT trail head on 850 in Marysville. We ran just over 12 miles South to Scott's Farm and back. It was a great morning and the weather was perfect, somewhere in the mid 20s.
Lebanon bologna and cheddar cheese sandwich
with cheddar party mix was my fuel for the day!
with cheddar party mix was my fuel for the day!
Waiting for my dad to arrive.
The trail starts off through a field. In the summer, I hate this part because the grass is tall, the trail is narrow, and I'm afraid of snakes! But in the winter it wasn't scary at all.
Then it was into the woods. There were a lot of steep climbs for the first 3-4 miles and my legs felt like jelly... but then it was smooth sailing to the six mile mark. At this point my legs were warmed up and I was feeling good!
On the way out I saw my friends Kristen and Anne. They had started at 7am and were doing a much longer run that day. We saw a couple other runners and 3-4 hikers over the course of the day. Normally this part of the trail is very crowded on a warm weekend afternoon, but I guess it was too cold for most people!
After my dad and I turned around and were well on our way back, we passed a hiker who was coming toward us. He was tall, smiley (in a creepy way), and wearing clothes that made him blend into the woods, not stand out. (All the runners we passed had on bright green, yellow, or orange.) Once he was out of earshot I said to my dad, "You see why I don't run trail alone anymore? All that guy needs is a gun or a knife and he could do whatever he wanted." My dad agreed.
We walked more on the way back than on the way out, but still were going at a pretty decent clip considering the terrain. I was happy that I was only feeling tired, not achy and beat up.
Oh, one thing we noticed on the trail was that there leaves all over the trail with green spray paint on them. I would say there was about a 2 mile section where every once in awhile we'd come across the leaves with green spray paint. We couldn't figure out why it was there. I wish I had gotten a picture.
I refueled with the exact same thing I had before my run!
I told you I've been eating a ton of lebanon bologna!
All in all, it was a great day on the trail with my dad! He never ran on this part of the AT before, so I was excited to show him what it was like. We'll have to go back in the summer so he can see how pretty it is with all the ferns!
Local peeps: What's your fav section of the AT?
Favorite places to hike?
What do you think the green spray paint was?
Favorite places to hike?
What do you think the green spray paint was?
I love cheddar trail mix and am glad to see another runner who eats regular normal food instead of crazy concoctions :).
ReplyDeleteWe don't have places to hike here... we do have some trails for running, mostly dirt packed ones. A lot of ours do have spray paint to "mark" sections of them. The only places I've been hiking were the NC mountains with my husband and at this church retreat I went to in college. It was fun though, but not nearly as long as you guys hiked.
Also you look like your dad! Glad y'all had a fun time!
No crazy concoctions for me! I mean, you know I do like to eat healthy too, but if I want a little cheddar mix, I'm gonna have it! When I was running, I was thinking of my blogger friends who don't live anywhere near trails like this and I wished I could take you all out on the AT to experience it!
DeleteWhat a great way to spend time with your dad!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, our local rail trail is a huge spot for professional photographers to take pictures. I'm always seeing a photographer out there snapping pics of families, pets, the landscape, etc. Although I believe it's highly unlikely, perhaps someone spray painted the leaves because they needed brighter colored leaves in their picture...lol. The only reason I would ever see anything spray painted on a trail is because it was being marked for a race. Other than that, I would have no clue why someone would take the time to spray paint leaves out there!
Yeah marking a course makes total sense but I am pretty sure there was no race on the AT lately...
DeleteThats so awesome that you were able to do this run with your dad! I agree, I wouldn't want to run on a trail alone.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I can run with my dad.
DeleteYeah but I wonder what for?
ReplyDeleteOMG I can't believe you can eat a sandwich and chex mix before a run! I would have had to pull off and go behind a tree within like 2 minutes if I did that. My stomach is so sensitive and if there is anything solid in it during a run I have to use the bathroom. That's why I mostly do yogurts or smoothies if I'm running in the morning before the bathrooms open at the beach! Sorry if TMI, but I feel like with you it's not TMI lol!
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome that you can be so active with your dad. My dad last 30lbs last year and is feeling really good. He bikes everywhere now which I think is really cute. He told me that he bikes to Dunkin Donuts to get a donut every morning ... but he's only eating one instead of two now lol. Honestly my dad is 70 years old and when I'm 70 I hope to be living my best donut eating life too!
Well full disclosure, I probably pooped 10 times that morning before I ate that food. There was absolutely NOTHING left inside of me!
DeleteThat's wonderful your dad lost some weight and that he is feeling good now. Biking is so good for you! How old us your mom?
Lol!
DeleteMy mom is 62, she’ll be 63 this November
I love that you run with your Dad. I wish I could do that with my Dad more often!
ReplyDeleteI'm very thankful!
Delete