Running With Pepper

Hiking during the day with Pepper out at Catoctin Mountain Park (http://www.nps.gov/cato/)in Thurmont, MD. Not too many people on the trails, which was very nice, although we did find a few. Hiked out to several vistas, overlooking several valley's on different sides of the mountain, all of which were very nice. As we were hiking out we passed a group of people who asked me about the availability of water on the mountain. Of course, they had dogs and didn't have any water with them, so I gave some of mine to their dogs (Not to the people!). For the record, Corgies should probably not be hiking on a mountain, especially when their irresponsible owners don't have any water on an 85 degree day. Needless to say, Pepper and I had a fantastic time and he was thoroughly exhausted when we got back to the car. The hike was for 6 miles and then later in the day, we went for a nice 2.5 mile trot. Nice and easy 8.5 miles for the entire day.

Ran after work around Pimmit Hills across the road and did the 5 miles loop. Finished the loop in 38:44. It took a while to get going tonight and my right foot hurt near the back left side of the ball of my foot. Odd, it's been a little like that lately but I haven't been all that worried about it. After I warm up, it typically goes away. Afterwards, I gathered Pepper up and we did a nice and easy 2 miles for a cooldown for a total of 7 miles for the day. He's really getting good with running with me which bodes well for us in the future, especially since it should get cooler sooner. Looking forward to a really short week as this is my last "friday off" from a summer 9/80 program. Oh well, it's been nice while it lasted but I also have plenty of vacation saved for future use. Thinking about hiking this Sunday, somewhere in Shenandoah, but I'm unsure if I want to put the miles on my car. Oh well...a decision will come soon enough. At least I have Penn State football on Saturday. Let's go State! 1-0 and onward to a National Championship!

(Brooks Infinitis 319 miles)