| Mom, Don, Caitlin, Graham and I went for a hike up Maryland Heights across the river from Harper's Ferry. By this time (noon), it was very humid, and Mom wasn't sure she was going to make the whole trip. Graham cavalierly offered to go back with her whenever she wanted to turn. In the end, she stayed with us the whole time, and when asked what her motivation was, she said, "Because I didn't want you all calling me a sissy!" Graham was not happy that she made the whole trip.
It was a good hike, and the route up was very steep. Once at the top, though, it looped along the ridge, passing through Civil War campsites, artillery bunkers, defensive walls, etc. It was pretty interesting. At the top, it was much less humid, and it looked like it was going to rain for awhile, but it never did.
The way down was uneventful until we got near the bottom. It was me, Graham and Mom walking together, and Graham saw a funnel spider in his web on an embankment on the side of the trail (so the web was about chest high). When we got near, the spider went down in the funnel, so Graham tried poking it gently with a stick to get it to come out. He was completely ineffective, so I took the stick to show him how it was done. One poke later, the spider was *flying* out of the funnel, up to the top edge of his web, where he looked like he was going to leap onto my face.
Well, this caused me to scream like a girl and start running sideways down the hill. Right then, I tripped on a rock that was jutting out of the trail, fell, and rolled about 3 times before I popped back up, with a cut knee and blood oozing down my leg. Graham and Mom were both laughing their asses off. Nice. They did say that I looked like an expert roller. I said that I have had a lot of practice from orienteering. Another adventure done.
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| As discussed on vmeyer's log yesterday, we met this morning at 8:00 at PWF for some O-training. It was lightly foggy and grey when we started out, but soon the skies opened up and there was a veritable deluge. We looked like two drowned rats.
It was fun training, though. We did most of the Day 2 Green course from the US Champs. Parking Lot E - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 2 - trail run back to car. It was another day of finding open patches in the woods so I could see the map better. And some amount of stopping to discuss the map and what we should be seeing around us.
It wasn't a hard workout by any means, but it was a workout that more than likely would not have gotten done if I hadn't arranged to meet Valerie. So, a gold star to both of us. Thanks, Valerie! |
| I ran the Heritage 5 Miler in Fredericksburg today, with Caitlin. I hadn't run on roads for awhile, so I was looking at this more as a way to get in my run for the day and not really as a race. At the start line, Caitlin informed that she had never run 5 miles before. Had never run more than 3. Okay. I decided then that I should just stay with her as she is very competitive, and I could just see her sprinting out from the start, and then dying at Mile 3. So, we kept a nice steady pace throughout the whole race. She started getting a side stitch around Mile 3, but I showed her how to even out her breathing, and it went away.
I'm happy to say she did the whole run without stopping and under her goal of 50 minutes. Another proud moment. |
Stafford, VA
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