As you know, I’m visiting my mom this week and that means that my running routes are far different than those that I see at home.  Settle back and let me take you on a run along the very same roads that a very young Deb used to run…  Wearing my Asics Gel Scouts, I left the house for a combined trail/pavement run.  The course I chose was very hilly, and if I trained on this regularly, I’d become a beast and would have laughed at those hills last week at the Reston 10 Miler!

I ran an out-and-back and didn’t start taking pictures until I turned around and headed home.  It was a beautiful day, a beautiful day for this farm girl turned city slicker to spook a cow and watch it run through the fence!  Yes, I did that.  I followed the road to the left that you can see in the distance and scared that far white cow as I ran by.  I guess they don’t see too many runners go by.

CowsRun

As soon as I got back to Mom’s house, I had to call my uncle (it was his cow) to humbly tell him what had happened.  I even volunteered to help chase the cow back into the lot, which would have been a great workout after my run.  Luckily, Uncle Tommy told me that it was a very gentle cow that would come back with a little rattle of a feed bucket.

RiverRoadRun

After running along the river for a while, I started gaining elevation and at a distance you can see that I will continue climbing as I run up that road along the ridge…

HillyRun

The road keeps climbing up the ridge until it levels out near where my grandparents lived…

MillDamRun

And then the road heads back down the hill in a very steep straight line…

GoatHillDown

Eventually, I made my way back to the muddy gravel road…

Muddy Run

And before I knew it, I turned onto the lane of my childhood home, and found jonquils greeting me and reminding me that spring really is on its way!

Jonquils

  • Questions:
  • Have you ever chased a cow?  Milked a cow?  Petted a cow?
  • If you run, do you run on hills, flat trails, or a combination?
  • What signs of spring do you have near you?