Finally Got a Run in this Week!

  Our long runs are supposed to be on Sundays.  Well, Sunday we drove to the destination for our 10- miler-- Old Mine Rd in the Delaware Water Gap, and parked the car at Millbrook Village.  Sometimes wurvy curvy roads get my stomach a little iffy, especially when it's empty, and that's exactly how I felt when we started off on our warm-up walk.  Millbrook Village is a neat, old touristy town, and this coupled with that special feeling in my tummy made for an excellent excuse to skip the run, explore, walk around and take pictures.

Of course, the sun was setting and we did end up jogging a little ways back to the car.

   Fun Sunday. Then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday..no run. Did some other fun stuff like make donuts, play music, visit my sister and hang out in Times Square.  Thursday came, and it was a perfect day to finally get that long run in! Got off work relatively early, with plenty of daylight to spare.

  We drove over to the North Beach at Paulenskill Lake and hit the trail for some adventures.  I didn't set my expectations too high, after having not run for like four days straight, started off with a side stitch right away (which I never get), and felt generally uncomfortable.  Thankfully, that feeling went away after a couple miles, and I slipped right back into enjoying the run.  Listened to some running podcasts- Phedippidations and Run Run Live, both highly entertaining and distracting.  

  Running these trails are the best because you get so much change of scenery the entire time, while the course pretty much stays flat.  The old rail trails go through the woods, but also through some farms and behind large residential properties.  The deer were everywhere, watching us from ridges above, hills in the distance or darting across the trail in front of us.  We past lots of cows and horses..and even discovered an alpaca farm!! It was great..there were four of them hanging out on one side of a field having a stare-down with about five or six deer on the other side.  I'm sure as soon as we stopped watching them they continued whatever game they were playing.

  At one point, a beautiful red Irish setter ran down the hill and out of the woods toward us.  A very friendly dog, we got her to run with us for a little while.  We weren't sure if she was lost, but figured probably not, with the jingle bell on her collar and all.  A big barn was nearby, and we stopped to ask the lady grooming horses.  She assured us the dog was a neighbor's and frequently likes to run with people.  Someday it will be nice to have a dog of our own to bring with us!

  Other than that, what else stood out on this run? We saw another runner! That's always a rare gem!  He passed us twice, so he must have been out on a long run as well. What else? A giant, random flood in one chunk of the trail..difficult to get around. Lots and lots of horse doo doo. And the sun set fast on those last couple miles.. I think I was more worried about stepping right into one of those massive piles than encountering a black bear in the dark.  I guess that's about it. Oh, and I made Tom promise that he'd never let me not run for a long period of time straight..I didn't like how I felt after taking four days off and I really don't want to lose the progress I've made.  Can't imagine starting from scratch!  I enjoy running too much to let it go too easily and refuse to let myself forget it. So that's all. : )