~11+ miles @ ~15 min/mi

Comrade Caren Jew tells me that doing two days in a row of hard training is good for the soul (or soles), so before dawn we meet at Landover Mall and drive to Gambrill State Park, scene of our prior (21 Oct 2006, in HatBulge) journey along the Catoctin Trail. It's just as rocky and steep as before but this time we're better prepared and don't get lost. Half a mile into the run my stiff hip has loosened up, and when I look down I see that I still have on two pairs of shorts. That turns out to be good, given temps in the 40's and occasional gusty winds. After ~90 minutes of brisk jogging and hill-climbing we reach a pond, probably within half a mile of Hamburg Road, from which the return trip takes almost precisely the same time. The sunrise above an Appalachian ridge is lovely, as are the streams that we have to cross (and I only get one foot wet!). For the first hour we have the trail to ourselves, but by the later half of our expedition we encounter small hordes of hikers, dog-walkers, and mountain-bikers. During the ride home I start to get chilled. Caren stops at a 7-11 and buys me a hot chocolate. Thanks!

(correlates: AllSunsets, YouAreBetter, PerimeterFocused, ...)