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October 29, 2005
A Long Run of Sorts
I guess 7 miles only counts as a long run when you are re-building your base mileage, right? Well, 7 miles was my long run for the week.
I ran that this afternoon on what I call the Gardiner railroad bed. It's a rails-to-trails, old railroad bed-type deal. It starts in Gardiner, MT, which is just outside the north boundary of Yellowstone, and about 5 miles from my home. In fact, this trail starts in town, but then it goes back into the national park proper for 4 or so miles before it heads out into private property. Its whole distance skirts just above the Gardner River (Note the spelling difference: "Gardiner" for the town, "Gardner" for the river. I have no idea why.). Gardiner the town and Gardner the river sit nestled in a valley at about a mile high in elevation, surrounded by 9,000-10,000 foot peaks. You really couldn't ask for better running scenery.
I started in town, ran out for 3.5 miles, and returned the same direction. My total time was 55:45.
The weather wasn't great, though tolerable. When I left my house, the weather was cool and cloudy. I packed shorts, a t-shirt, and a long sleeve shirt for running. Before I ran, I completed a few errands around town. And in those 90 or so minutes, the weather turned foul. I decided to suck it up and go out underdressed anyways. The way out was into the wind, and it was spitting first rain, then sleet, then snow. Once I turned around and all this was at my back, life was a lot more pleasant. I would have been a lot happier if I had light gloves, a hat, and a windbreaker. I had to chuckle, though, as I neared town again, I saw a man walking in a winter parka with the hood up and gloves on. Yes, the weather had turned foul.
Animal sightings for the run: a herd of white tail deer, 3 seperate herds of pronghorn, some female elk, and a bald eagle.
Afterwards, I was wet, freezing, and starving, so I scurried home for some hot chocolate and food. After I was warm and satiated again, I did core exercises and then spun on the indoor trainer (A trainer for my road bike so that I can bike indoors when the roads are in bad condition.) for about 40 easy minutes.
Posted by Meghan at October 29, 2005 6:19 PM
Comments
Hi!!! Wahoo!!!!! Yeah!!!!
Posted by: Audrey at October 30, 2005 12:57 AM
Sounds like a good run to me. At least the scenery and wildlife makes it worth it.
Posted by: Thomas Soerensen at October 30, 2005 9:45 AM
Yeah!!! I'm so glad you are back on the eliterunning.com blogs!!! Welcome home! :)
Posted by: Beth at October 30, 2005 1:31 PM
Welcome back! I absolutely love the yellow and orange on your blog!
Posted by: Caitlin at October 30, 2005 5:30 PM
your run reminds me of when i worked in yellowstone national park. i was in gardiner quite a bit. & while working in yellowstone, my the animals i literally ran into. wow, you are living in such a beautiful area. i definitely miss that wilderness and beauty! have you been to bozeman yet?
Posted by: liz at October 30, 2005 6:42 PM
Hello and welcome back! I was quite excited of the news. I definitely missed you being here. Plus, I'm +1 for # of eliterunning.com bloggers met. Ha!
I'm glad you're running healthy again. Those hills are gonna get you in amazing shape. Good luck getting your water on again soon.
Posted by: Leilani at October 31, 2005 12:06 PM