High Hampton.

This weekend, I ran my 4 mile run around the trails of this lake.

And rather than do the assigned speed work of 4x800s and 4x400s with a mile warm-up and cool down on either side, I ran up and over this mountain, 4.3 miles round trip.

I've included two photos of the same mountain just to ensure that you are duly impressed.

Before I left, Jay asked me if I wanted to wear the heart-rate monitor. I told him that no, I probably didn't need the monitor to inform me that my heart was exploding. And whereas the 24 year-old App State version of me would have been all over this run, communing with nature, dodging roots and branches, getting all hardcore using the cables to climb the rock face, 34 year-old me was a tad more apprehensive--still an appreciator, of course, catching the light through the trees, the silence, the only noise my heart beating in my ears, the stunning view from the top-- but perhaps a bit more cautious and concerned about plummeting off the side of the mountain than 24 year-old me. Although Mom and Dad certainly raised me to be adventurous and to be a risk-taker, that spirit is tempered significantly when there are three little folks depending on me for everything from lunch to figuring out how to paddle in a canoe to character development to learning the finer points of baking banana bread.

How times change.

After the summit bid and on the downslope in particular, I was really happy to have taken Jay's advice and run this route. I was really, really happy an hour later when I was tucking in to the largest piece of fried chicken I'd ever seen in the dining room.

And special thanks to Dottie for including us all, again, in her birthday celebration in the mountains. It was a beautiful weekend and it's an especially good thing when your family are also your friends.

Happy Birthday Dottie!