“what were you thinking?”

This goes down in the books as “what were you thinking?”…….

So time was short for today’s run so I hoped to get in 6….possibly 7 miles if the pace was quick….so out the door I go at 10:30 AM…out along the pond and into the woods for the 6 mile long loop…..I head out into the woods and I start noticing the mud is all messed up with horse prints which doesn’t make me overly happy…and then to top it off (or so I thought at the time)…I find a big pile of horse crap in the middle of MY trail which really upsets me…ok…back to my run…I’m cooking now so 7 miles looks likely and will keep me above the 8 avg./day week I’m aiming for….cruising along…and then I come around the trail and find ahead of me a DCR Park Ranger standing next to her horse in front of a 100 meter boardwalk that extends across the marsh….and I happen to notice another DCR Ranger on the other end of the walk with a horse….I stop running and approach slowly and I call out to them in order to not startled the horse or the ranger who happens to be on the phone….here’s the abbreviated version of our conversation…I can’t go across…I’ll just have to go back…..which my response is…how long are going to be (I never go back…I always go forward…I’ve been known to take off my sneakers and socks and wade through water up to my knees in order to prevent going back)…and then the ranger wigs out on me…”we have an emergency here with the horse on the other side…the fire department is coming out”…she’s an emotional wreck…so I calm her down and depart…only to return 30 seconds later to see if there is anything I can do…which she thanks me…confirms they’re all set and sends me on my way….I end up running back out of the woods and run laps around the pond for 5 miles (sigh)….

So here’s the thing…the trail they walked on was already a tough trail…they had BIG horses…and then to try to get across a boardwalk where I even feel the boards myself give…I just question “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?”……I suspect the lead horse went through a board…..at the end of the day, of course I hope the horse is ok…

Who knows what tomorrow’s run will bring…..


Goes in the book for a solid 5