Marching On

Hello again friends.  It's been a short while since my last post and I have so much to share.  The first is that we had a great run at the Intervale.  Lynne Wolfe from the Conservation Nursery gave us a fantastic tour of their operation which started at the greenhouse and then went out to the growing fields.  They've got a great supply of elderberries, dogwoods, and other species which are typically used for riparian restoration projects throughout the state.  We then ran a little further down the main road to a portion of field that is badly eroding out due to a lack of structural vegetation.  It was a great segway into the importance of riparian buffers and sparked some good discussion.  Thanks Lynne, Jenna, and Tim for coming along.

The second is that I turned 30 on March 24 and in honor of that milestone birthday I celebrated by running 30 miles.  Dean Karnazes, whose claim to fame is running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, did the exact same thing on his 30th birthday so I figured  I'd give it a try.  Surprisingly it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, despite hitting a definite wall at about mile 21.  Luckily I had a good supply of carbs and electrolytes which allowed me to keep pressing on until a second wind could catch hold.  Probably the worst part, and I assume this is the same with anyone who trains at distances in the 20 mile range and higher, is that there's no fanfare.  When you run a marathon, there's typically hordes of people cheering you on and providing that little extra boost to your morale when you need it.  On a solo 30 mile run, there's little to no external motivation (aside from a few horn honks which scare you more than help you).  There are no fans cheering you on or medals waiting for you at the finish line.  It's simply you, the road, and a little voice telling you to call it quits cause it's not worth it.  Luckily the latter can be drowned out with a sizable dose of Bon Jovi streaming through the iPod (never leave home without it). 

The third is that I'm officially over the 500 mile mark which means I am 1/4 of the way to my goal.  Hard to believe that there's still just under 1500 miles to go.  It's always daunting when I think about it.  Perhaps it won't seem so bad when there's only 1000 left but I doubt it.

Until the next one...see you on the road.