It looks like the day after Thanksgiving last year I thought about going to the white mountains for a hike, but then didn't because the weather looked bad - instead I went on a Fells hike on that Friday, and did the entire loop. Which I guess I thought was a good idea, because I did the exact same thing today!
I was going to do jennings peak and sandwich, but it said it was going to be cold and windy, with gusts up to 40 mph. Nope. Also, no to getting up early for that. I slept a bit and then decided I would try to do skyline first, and if there was no parking I would do my usual rock circuit. For some reason there were a ton of spots open - it was kind of cold and it even snowed a few flakes. Anyhow, I decided to go for the longer hike.
As in the past I parked in the sheepfold and went clockwise so that I would get the part that could be cut off done first - always an excellent idea because I was a little cold, tired and hungry as I got to the end of the hike and would have taken a short cut if I could. Last night I had a delicious dinner, including turkey and the stuffing from the turkey, and as usual I ate wayyyy too much and had regrets. Last weekend I ate bacon and it was delicious, and it's making me question this whole pescatarian thing. It's been about 5 years - I wonder if it's time to make meat a more regular part of my life again? Anyhow, I ate so much that I didn't need breakfast and wasn't hungry when I set out at 11 ish. Fortunately I still packed a granola bar, thinking that I might get hungry (I did).
It was a really nice hike, chilly but not cold - I was sweating but not too much. I did take my puffer off about a mile or so in and just hiked in pants and a smart wool top + t shirt. I was feeling pretty good, and my knee is feeling good as well, so especially during the flatter parts I moved a little faster, which felt nice. Because it's the long weekend I didn't really have any Dark Trail Thoughts or Other Angst to get out of my system, and it was a little difficult actually that I didn't have anything to chew over in my mind while hiking. I looked at my hiking time from last year and it was 3 hours 37 minutes - this year it was 3 hours and 16 minutes. Book time is 3 - 3.5 hours, so a little faster this year!
Although I haven't been blogging about it, I have been swimming. This week I did two quarter mile swims in 44 degree water, and it felt great! We've been swimming pretty regularly on Saturdays, so I went then. And then I had a little free time at lunch on Wednesday, so I went then as well. I intended to just bob around, but one of the women brought her family, and she was like "they will be so impressed if you swim" so I did (hint, they were completely unimpressed. But I was glad that I did swim, so it was a good motivator.) I've pretty much been swimming a quarter mile a week each weekend with the water getting slowly colder. Tomorrow is meant to be even colder out, but sunny, so hopefully it will be a good day for a swim.
I've also been doing the boring PT exercises and I think they are helping! Today my knee mostly didn't hurt during my hike. I think I might turn my left foot out a little, and so that may be part of the issue as well. I'm going to try to continue with the exercises and stretches, even though they are pretty boring.
Last Tuesday I accidentally stepped on my cat - she does this thing where she follows me around - it's kind of cute. But I didn't realize she was under foot until I felt a furry movement and heard a really angry yowl. She went completely kitty crazy on me and dug her claws into my leg. There was blood :(. After she was growly for a couple hours before she would calm down. Cats. I had to bribe her with a lot of treats, but she's forgiven both me and my other cat (who had nothing to do with the incident, but did get the bulk of her wrath.)
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