Climb Every Mountain

Climb Every Mountain is probably one of the best-known songs from The Sound of Music, which is my all-time favorite movie. Before passing any judgments, I will be the first to admit that I am a huge dork...so you don't even have to say it! But I don't care because I've loved this movie since I was five and will love it forever. 

During my 10 mile run on Saturday morning, "Climb Every Mountain" popped into my head because I felt like I was Running Every Mountain. Yes, I'm being dramatic, and yes, I'd say that 85% of the run was gorgeous and totally enjoyable. But that other 15%? Yes, I wanted to die.  

The highlights of my run:

My starting point: the house we rented for the weekend. Its so much bigger on the inside then it looks from the outside, and sits on 270 acres of land!

The barn at the house. I "climbed" over that pile of fire wood to explore the barn and still have some splinters to prove it!

Look at the snow on the mountain top!

Side view of the castle Pat and I stayed in in April for our anniversary! Funny how close it is to the house we stayed in this weekend.

A little pig farm! Smelly, but very cute!

The last 1 1/2 miles of my run was very much uphill, and seemed to be worse than Heartbreak Hill. The hills were tough for two reasons: first, they really were very long and steep, and second, I didn't hydrate or refuel properly (which may have had a lot to do with my death wishes). You should start re-hydrating and refueling about 60 minutes into a long workout, and then continue every 20 minutes or so. I didn't bring any liquids with me, so there was no re-hydration at all. I did have a GU packet, but only had some when I was feeling really sluggish, around mile 9. I felt like I had a little more energy after a few minutes, but to prevent this I should have had some GU around mile 6, and then again at mile 8 or 9. ..and always bring water or Gatorade on runs longer than 8 miles!

After I mounted my last hill I felt a lot better and picked up my pace for the rest of the run. Sometimes I think the mental aspect of hill work is harder than the physical demands. Upon returning to the house I immediately drained a G2 Glacier Freeze Gatorade, and snacked on some chocolate chip pumpkin bread with skim milk.

I showered and we all headed out for a short hike before coming back for a relaxing afternoon in front of the fire.

I love Vermont!