Week 20

This past weekend, some girlfriends and I had an amazing time hiking together and are pondering the idea of doing some more serious backpacking trips. I've always had a dream to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, but that'll probably be something for later in life. For now, we're setting our sights on the Foothills Trail... probably won't be until next spring, but we're starting our contemplation now. I'm excited. :)

Monday

Did: 60 min power flow w/ Karina

Good flow class today although in my head I thought I'd signed up for sculpt so I was in a bit of a different mindset at the start of class. Still was a solid workout and enjoyed it as always.

Tuesday

Did: 6.33 mi @ 9:15/mi 

10kTuesday out and back through Green Valley towards the Swamp Rabbit via Foothills road. Not sure why I felt like an out-and-back route today, but I did. I got it done early, which was nice. Really need to work on getting some speed back... maybe another week or two to get the distance feeling good and will add in speedwork. Maybe...

Wednesday

Did: rest

Just no time or motivation for anything today.

Thursday

Did: 3.7 mi @ 9:27/mi + 60 min Soul Sculpt w/ Katie F

Got out for a few miles in the neighborhood at dawn before Scott left town for the weekend. It was nice to get out early, actually not completely miserable temperature-wise but it sure felt like a swim through the early a.m. humidity. 

In the afternoon I did Soul Sculpt which was, as always, challenging but a good sweat. 

Friday

Did: 8.5 mi hike w/ Robin + 60 min Power Flow w Karina

With Scott out of town and D at my parents', I thought of what I could do to take advantage of a "free" day. After looking back over the week and realizing just how many hours I'd put into work already, and remembering the joy of being in the woods from last weekend, I suggested to Robin we do an early morning hike on Friday to avoid the weekend crowds. Luckily she was available and willing! We did Raven Cliff Falls loop, which is near Caesar's Head & Jones Gap but isn't inside either park, so we could get to it earlier than the other parks' 9a.m. opening time.

Trail Map

So green in the early morning sunlight

We started off on the short "stick" of the lollipop(ish) loop, and made our way happily through the early morning sunlight (started at 7am) and the amazingly comfortable air. After about a mile we came to the point of no return:

mmmmkay. 😬

Thankfully we were not hiking the loop that takes 4-6 hours. But we still stood there and thought about it for a minute. We continued on the difficult descent down some pretty steep and technical trail (Dismal Trail) and finally flattened out as we approached a creek.

We saw bunches of these big guys on the trail!

Boulders

First of two major bridges 

We're on a bridge! In the woods!

We continued on and climbed a LOT of steep trail, basically going up everything we'd just descended. Now on the Naturaland Trust trail, with pink blazes.

Pink blazes

More climbing and we eventually popped out around this gorgeous rock face with water dripping and sprinkling over the sides. It was refreshing to stand under and beautiful to look at.

Just look at how those clouds move overhead 😍

A bit more climbing brought us to the top of the ridge where we could hear but not see the falls - we were right next to them! But then we finally came to the suspension bridge that I'd been to before but from the other direction - at the time (8 years ago) it was closed and the part of the trail we did today was all new to me. 

 

 

 

So excited we made it!

 

View of the top of the falls as it drops over the cliff's edge.

After that it was a little more climbing but mostly just the return on Gum Gap trail and back to the "stick" of the lollipop that we'd started on. 

Made it back to the car just before 11:30, so a total of 4.5 hours on the trail with plenty of stops to take in the views. Felt pretty good about ourselves, especially when you consider the elevation profile:

😳

In the later afternoon I did yoga, which felt wonderful.

Saturday

Did: 4.2 mi bike ride w/ D

Took D out on the Swamp Rabbit trail for a mid-morning ride. We played on the pump track at Gateway for a bit then headed for an out-and-back on the trail before heading to our ultimate destination: Pink Mama’s Ice Cream (always a great motivator). We got our ice cream and then D wanted to ride some more… so we headed the other direction (more crowded with people) and were almost to our turnaround point when D went to pass some people walking, got squirrely, and faceplanted on the asphalt. Bloody nose and lip, but thankfully teeth intact. We sat for a bit and recovered, then he was ready to head back to the car. What a trooper!

 

Sunday

Did: 4.1 mi stroller run/walk

Midmorning was already too hot for a neighborhood stroller run. Plans for a long run on the SRT were altered due to plans to meet up with neighbors at the pool before lunch, so we switched to short neighborhood route. I still feel like I got a decent workout (not a 10-mile run, but it was something) with all the hills and such. And I haven’t run with the stroller in a while, so maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t just go out and attempt double-digit running (which I also haven’t done in a while).