What's Next?

As I was running my soggy three miles this morning, I was thinking about the question everyone seems to keep asking us: What's next?

It is a funny thing, this whole 'finished with the AT' state that we are now in. It has been in the forefront of our thoughts and activities for so long now. Four years, and more. And now, there are no more white blazes to walk by. The journey north is done. So, what is next? What will keep us busy now? What will keep us motivated?

Well, for the next few weeks, the MDI Marathon is certainly the focus. I am glad we had this race on the horizon after the 100 Mile Wilderness. It's kept us going. Even though we were tired, our feet hurt, our legs were cut and bruised, we couldn't just plop on the couch and rest. The marathon is coming up fast. There is no time for relaxation :-)

I do plan to rest a bit after the marathon, but not for too long! There's nothing worse than sitting around during the dreary dark days of November. Although I do like Thanksgiving, I'm not that fond of the rest of November. The days get shorter, the beautiful fall foliage is gone, and it's getting colder, but not cold enough that the ground is covered with snow. Snowman and I are planning to run the Feaster Five in Andover, MA on Thanksgiving Day, and are hoping his sister will join us and run the 5k option.

OK, so that takes care of short-term goals and plans.

And for 2009? For now, the following races and ideas are rolling around in my brain as things I'd like to do...

The Mid Winter 10 Mile Classic on February 1.
The Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 50k on May 24. This is no doubt bound to become a tradition. Team Sonic Death Monkey will hopefully be out there in rare form again this coming year! And yes, I plan to run the 50k. Snowman does too. Yes, we are crazy. But really, why not?
I'm also intrigued by The Stone Cat Marathon, which is in early November. It's supposed to be a cool race put on by a crazy bunch of runners.
Certainly, Ian's Trail Monster Running races at Bradbury will be in the list too. And likely, the Merrimack River 10 miler in April.

So to make a long story short, a fair amount of running and racing.

But although I do love running, I can't give up on hiking. I've always been proud of the fact that Snowman and I have made a point of getting out hiking and exploring new areas, and don't just hang around on the weekends. With that in mind, we plan to hike the newly opened Grafton Loop Trail at some point next summer and would like to go back to the Gulf Hagas area. I'd also like to check out the new Maine Huts and Trails system that is being built. And I am already pushing for us to work on our now remaining 170 or so miles on the Long Trail (the AT and LT coincide for the first 100 miles). We've done a good chunk of it, why not do the rest?!

Needless to say, I don't think there's too much fear of us becoming lethargic and sitting around too much on the couch eating bonbons. OK, well, maybe just a bit... but only after a good run or hike :-)