The weather was kind of tricky. It was super windy and chilly in those parts. However, I knew it would be warm for a lot of the run. That was the case. I had my shell and was sweating a lot, but also chilly a little too.
We headed up the loop. I told her we could run the bottom, but not much else. We ran up to the first rocky section. Then, it was time to hike. She has a 50K this weekend, so we were taking it easy. Her family was there a few weeks back and she couldn't believe they hiked the whole thing (sort of).
The climb was a little tough for me just because I'm rusty. I used poles though and that probably saved my back a lot. I may have to train with them more often and especially race with them if I ever do race again.
There were a few hikers that we passed. Since it was Monday, not many were out. We stopped briefly at the lower view. It was time to keep moving though. We chatted and the run or rather hike at this point, flew by.It wasn't too long until the top. It was slower than I normally do, I think. Some people hiked to the false summit, so we were able to pass them, since I knew where to go. We didn't see any bears or wildlife at all.
We stopped at the bottom of the overlook for quite a few photos. Then, it was on to the Blue Trail. I let Angie lead. She started running, but I didn't feel like running the ridge, so I hiked. Then, she hiked too.
One issue is I can never eat lunch before we run. Therefore, I was low on calories. I had some old GU Chomps that I ate and they seemed to help.
Before we knew it, we were on the rocky descent. I told her we could start running down now. We passed a couple more people. I love this part.
At one point, I was feeling good on the technical terrain. I went ahead of Angie and went at my own pace. I was in the zone. She played it more cautious.
I know I'll eventually fall here and it will likely be nasty. I rolled my ankle pretty bad, but it didn't hurt. I bet if I wasn't so well conditioned, I would've hurt myself. I was all alone now.
I kept thinking Angie might catch me on the smoother stuff at the bottom. She continued to be cautious. I cruised down quickly. I passed a young guy in army gear. I slipped on some loose rock there and almost fell.
I waited at the bottom of the Blue Trail. Angie came by about 3 minutes later. We took some waterfall pictures. Then, we continued on.
I wanted to run a little more. We still had time, so we headed up the AT a bit. This was hiking early, but less steep, so we ran a little here and there too. The army guy asked us about the route to Sunfish Pond. We didn't have time to get there.
I wanted to get to the curving section in the hollow. We did that and were running. Then, we turned around to head back.
Running back was fun. It was all downhill. It was mostly smooth. Angie led the way and I cruised along. We probably ran about a mile or so to finish up It was over 5 miles and a solid run with some nice gain.
It was good to get back to Tammany. It was also good to show it to Angie. She enjoyed it, except she's not as crazy about the technical descent as I am.
Tomorrow, I'm going to the doctor. I doubt I'll run. I should get out there more though. I hope to backpack this weekend.
5.16 miles - 1:35:39 (18:33 pace) 1562 feet of elevation gain
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