Highland Run

The alarm went off at 5:30am but I was already awake. Ronnie the cat seems to have become my new alarm clock, and he had decided that 5:20am was a good time to lick my face in a bid for attention. I got up, had a few bites to eat, stretched, got my fuel belt filled with 2 bottles (one of HEED and one with a raspberry Hammer Gel and water mixture), and headed out the door.

I started the run at 6:20am. It was incredibly foggy out. Nothing I was wearing was truly reflective, so I was glad for the sidewalk along Maine Street and the wide paved shoulder along Pleasant Hill Road. The fog stayed with me all the way up to the turn on to Highland Road, approx 40 minutes into the run. It was low and dense, and obscured most everything. But I know from experience that the run out Pleasant Hill Road is a beautiful one, with rolling fields and plenty of hills too! Along with the fog, it felt like it was about 99.9% humidity. Ugh.

The sky began to brighten as I meandered along Highland Road. Although it's only a few mils out of town, it feels like you are truly out in the country along this road. The road is lined with farms, big old rambling houses and the requisite fields, full of wild roses, milkweed, queen anne's lace, buttercups, morning glories and others. The fields were also alive with birds. I saw several red-winged blackbirds, 2 grey catbirds, three Bobolinks, five Barn Swallows, eastern starlings, grackle, sparrows, crows and chickadees.

As Snowman noted from his run on this route yesterday, there is really nothing flat about this loop. At the end of Highland is one big, steep uphill before the turn onto Bunganuc. I slowed down to a bit of a crawl here, but was able to pick it up again as I headed on Bunganuc toward Maquoit Bay. As I headed down towards the ocean, the fog obscured the landscape once again, and I could not see the beautiful vista out into the bay. I am often running in the opposite direction on this road, and there is always a nice mellow downhill towards the water. Of course, today, it was uphill. I was feeling tired and I was sweating. A lot. More gulps of HEED and Hammer Gel.

I plodded along, knowing that once I got to the high school, I was in the home stretch. My legs were getting a bit stiff, and the last mile back to the field house was a slow one. Still, finished the 11.75 mile loop (according to mapmyrun.com) in 1:43, which seems respectable. The road running is much harder on the legs, but I certainly can move faster on the pavement than out on the trails!

Anyway, this was one good workout along a beautiful route, and a great way to start the day!

Coincidentally, Snowman, who would not tell me his time for his run yesterday, finished his run of this same route in 1:44. Guess we've run enough together to keep up the same pace, even apart! :-)