Looking back - Dec 2019

 5 years ago: December (2019) –

I spent most of the month working my way back to running and got in some cold outdoor biking and hiking.

  

Next up was a trip with Eric Morse to Tennessee to visit a few tri-state points (places where three states meet.  We arrived in Chattanooga by noon and Eric went for a run on the Brainerd Levee while I put in 3 miles of hiking.  We drove East and stopped about halfway to our destination (Franklin NC).  Eric went off for a run while I climbed to the summit of Sheep Top and continued on for 3 mile hike.  We got into the hotel just before dark and Eric hit the road for one more run. We were up before dawn for a run (Eric) and hike (me) on the Little Tennessee River Greenway.  It was a gloomy day with drizzle and fog and temps never getting out of the 40s.  It was also a LONG drive to the trailhead for the hike to the NC/SC/GA tri-state point.  We had a little trouble finding the actual start but after that it was pretty smooth sailing.  The 7.3 mile hike took us a little less than 2.5 hours.    

After that we had another long drive to get us to the GA/TN/AL tri-state point (a walk up), then onward to Chattanooga. 

Our final full day in TN started before sunrise with a visit to the top rated donut shop and a hike along the Tennessee River.  After that we ventured to our final tri-state (TN, AL, MS) which was a short hike (.1) to a really nice steel arch and tri-marker.  After that we hit Lookout Mountain where Eric headed off for a run and I hiked to the summit getting in a nice 7+ mile hike with some excellent views.

                      

On the first day of winter (Dec 22) I headed to Nantucket to my final Reservation in my red-lining project (hiking/running every mile of every trail on all of the Trustees of the Reservations properties).  I hiked the first 12 miles and ran the last 4 (I’d started running two days before).  After nearly 4.5 hours on the sand it felt weird getting on the bike for a somewhat mad dash to the 1:30 ferry.  I made it with no time to spare and was the last person on for the ride back.  All in all a fun day.

  

I ended the month with a return to the doctor to talk about starting back.  So, after 8 weeks I tentatively began running again.