Run up the mountain

I ran halfway up a mountain to a Buddhist Monastery today.  I think I'm going to actually visit it when I'm not gross and sweaty from running... well, halfway up a mountain.  There is a meditation class there every Saturday that I think I will visit next weekend.  Sounds so cool!

So...   You know, my intention was actually to run up and then hike/run up the hiking trail that was up there.  Unfortunately, my running trail shoes weren't quite enough to grip onto the snow/ice that was still on the trail.  I did try for about a quarter mile when I realized that the ice would probably only get worse, so I turned around and ran back down the mountain.  Talk about quad pain... Knees and foot, however, are doing surprisingly well.  It wasn't a terribly far run... somewhere over six miles (I forgot to restart my Garmin at one point, so I don't have the exact distance), but with the level of difficulty, I don't think that was a bad thing.  I thought about making it longer, but I was hurting.  I also ran about 8.5 miles yesterday - again, not VERY far, but it also involved a decent amount of hills.  I usually don't run many hills because at school we have one giant hill... and it just isn't that much fun to keep running it over and over again... Then again, neither is the constant straight away that I run on.  Either way, this is a new area, with lots of cool new places to run! Also a lot of culture.  I want to explore some of the little shops out here!  I think tomorrow I will :)  I wandered around a bit yesterday, but really, I was too sore to walk around a whole lot today, lol.  I may drive up an hour or so north tomorrow or the day after and check out some other towns.  Ah freedom... I love it!  Feels like there is only one thing missing...

Those are my profound thoughts for the day... I'm going to drink some wine and work a bit more on this research.  So much easier to do when I'm here and not at school...

Love,
Nina