Double workout

Four runs, ten miles, that was last week's workout tally. It was a start in my return to running after taking half a year off due to injury. (Left: The soft, dirt surface of the C&O Canal Towpath is perfect for running on.)

Not that I'm all better, but it's time to get back to activity. Either running or I'm going to have to find something else to do to keep active.

(Right: The park is teeming with critters.) I started off this week's workouts with a two mile lope this morning up the most formidable hill in my town and then down the W&OD Trail, in 20:03. It was such a beautiful Easter day that after a couple of hours of recovery while browsing the numerous books I'll never have time to read in the huge Barnes & Noble in Bethesda, I drove to the C&O Canal for my annual trek on the rugged Billy Goat Trail. (Left: Bridge or downed tree? This year I scrambled across the stream atop the log.)

The Billy Goat Trail is a two-plus mile hard scramble off the towpath over sharp boulders and across sheer precipices that border the tall rock cliffs above the upper Potomac River in Maryland. Two hours later, with my tender ankle aching and my hat brim dripping sweat beads, I was done, having registered a double workout for the day and entertained a fervent hope that I'm on my way back to some modicum of fitness again. (Right: The spectacular views of the Potomac are well worth the strenuous hike.)