Monday, November 16, 2009

"Yeah man!" - the long legged blonde

Climbed to the highest point in Georgia (well - ran) with my favorite running partner - a long legged blonde - ha! My favorite running partner has a higher tolerance for pain. After racing 16 miles on tough trails in western North Carolina on Saturday, she called me and invited herself down to Georgia on Sunday, so we could run up Brasstown Bald.

Having quasi-rested legs, my desire to run was high. And, the 68 degree weather and sun fueled this desire. We ran the Jack (name?) knob trail going up one side of the road, then we re-fueled and tackled Brasstown Bald, which was on the other side. Knowing that she was pushing me, I tried my new method of tackling hills with switchbacks. I ran hard on the straight and would walk the curves up; this worked pretty well! I kept up a solid pace and felt strong. But, then when we reached the paved area to the tower, she took off. Those long legs galloped up to the tower with me huffing and puffing behind her wondering what happened to her earlier statement - "oh we will walk this part." Reaching the top gave me a chance to catch my breath (notwithstanding the altitude) and drink in the panorama view - assisted by the loss of trees and clear blue skies.

Then, we went back down the trail towards the car only to repeat the other part of Jack's knob again. Eventually, my legs gave out (and hers did too), and we retreated down towards Hiawassee for some coke & pizza.

Really an unforgettable 14.5 (or so) miles!!!

3 comments:

David Ray said...
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Sara said...
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David Ray said...

We live in Jefferson and came over to Gainesville for my wife's school project, Subway, and a walk in the park. My daughter used to be in the ballet company at Brenau and my wife enjoyed walking in that park. Still does!