Sunday, November 15, 2009

Trails and Tales with The Mountain Goat!

Yesterday morning (Sat) at 7.30am I met up with the Cotter group who have moved to Molonglo Reach for the summer. Ewen, Jen, Andy and I joined Chris (the Mountain Goat), Marianne, Elizabeth, Graeme and Stuart for a run before the sun became too hot. We "ran" around Duntroon to Campbell Park, Ainslie saddle, the rollercoaster, straight up to Ainslie summit (defnitely NOT running at this stage, more like clambering up rock faces) through the streets of Campbell and back to Molonglo via Duntroon. Our mountain goat leader pointed out all the interesting spots and sights on the way, especially from the magnificent view from the top of the mountain. He has so much history and knowledge at his finger tips and makes the run/walk very interesting.
Jen, Andy and I also stopped to ogle at a huge lizard on our path on the way up the mountain before we reluctantly left it to chase the others before losing sight of them.

As we headed down Mt Ainslie Jen was feeling considerably ill so we left her at the picnic area in the shade near the War Memorial and took a short cut back to Molonglo to enable someone to drive back to collect her.

As we were running on the flat near the end of the run I tripped on a tree root and landed flat on my face in the dry dirt. I didn't suffer any undue damage except to my dignity as I was completely covered in dry dirt from head to toe (literally). Back at Molonglo Ewen, Andy and I went straight into the cold river water and in fact Andy and I went right under the water, clothes and all - one way of washing the mud off! It was really refreshing and I felt so much cleaner after that - albeit wetter and cooler!

We then joined the others, including Jen, for a drink and nibbles at the picnic table - very pleasant. Next week we will run further but as our mountain goat will be away, Ewen will ensure we don't walk up vertical hills and we will run all the way on the undulating trails instead. I have to say it's great to get back to the trails though - so much easier on the legs and feet (when I don't trip over them)!!

Total distance: 13.61km
Calories burned: 744
Time taken: 1:45 (walking involved!)


Now I'm off to do drills (and hopefully not spills) with Ewen!

3 comments:

  1. Good to see the slow twitch fibres getting a good workout. Not to mention the face muscles.

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  2. You did a CJ and bit the dust, good to see you admit it, and enjoy those hills.

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  3. I was half expecting grass stains on your outfit this morning, but you did well. At least the duck was impressed!

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