Soggy 3

Got up and out for a mellow 3 miles from home this morning. It was misty when I started, and as I made the turn-around in Highland Green, it began to rain. And then to pour. But at that point I was less than 15 minutes from home, so it wasn't too bad.

Today finished up the running portion of my week: 20 miles. Yes, the mileage is pretty low, considering I'm training for a marathon, but the week also includes the 27.7 miles we hiked/ran in our 2 days along the Franconia Ridge earlier this week, and will also include the 1.8 miles we're planning to hike tomorrow. So, when you look at it that way, I'd say it's been a solid week.

As for our weekend: We're leaving work early tomorrow to head to Stratton, where we will drop off a car at the end point of our hike. From there, we're getting a ride to Rangeley, where we'll hike in to the first shelter for the night. This will give us a bit of a head-start on the next 2 days of backpacking we have planned: 16.9 miles and 13.5 miles. These days will likely be a lot longer than our days last weekend, as we'll be traveling with full backpacks. We've done some of this section of the AT before, years ago, and it almost killed us. (Do you see a theme here?!) Going up and over five of the ME 4000 footers (Saddleback, Saddleback-The Horn, Sugarloaf, North and South Crocker), it is a rough and rugged section, but very beautiful. Somehow I think I'm going to be tired when we finish on Monday night :-)