Oh, Oh, Oh to be Hiking!

A friend from Maine recently emailed me and asked "is that rain you blogged about keeping you from hiking and making posts in your hiking blog? It has been weeks!"

Oh, if only it were that simple. There have been two major factors that have kept me from hiking lately. The first was wrapping up training for the Country Music Half Marathon. This was the first time I have done a half marathon, and even though it was not as tough as the three full marathons I have done, the training is still plenty rigorous. Most weeks I averaged running 4-6 miles before work 3 days a week, another day of cross training, and from 8 - 13 miles on each Saturday morning. It takes a toll. You get sleep deprived. There is no way I can fall asleep so as to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep if I have to be out at 4:30AM before work. On Saturdays, I usually was up by 5:15 or 5:30 and never past 6 o'clock. Tiredness was a constant companion most days.

Being a working person, my only window to hike is Saturday and Sunday. After running 10 or 13 miles Saturday morning, hikes are not going to happen most Saturdays. And Sundays always seemed like a good day to relax and catch up things missed by doing so much race training. Or spend some time with one's spouse.

The other reason I missed doing much other than race training was our sick cat. She got desperately ill the beginning of March and until about two weeks ago, I believed that each weekend was her last. I felt like it was more important to be around her, as she desperately wanted to cuddle and needed companionship. Now she suddenly seems fine., for which I am grateful I have personally done my part to stimulate the economy the past two months just from paying veterinarian bills! Don't ask me to do more!

So I have missed some prime spring hiking weather, and will continue to do so. Family is in town starting Friday for the next three weekends, and that will take priority. I hope I can partake in a short hike or two during that time, but that will be about it. And another family visit will rule out hiking the first weekend in June! By the time I get up to the Shenandoah mountains again, it will be about past mountain laurel bloom! It is amazing how time flies.

Maybe in the meantime, I will blog about some older hikes, take a little trip down memory lane. But for now, my dominant sentiment is oh, to be hiking!