Picked up speed in the cold weather. 5 miles in a little over 45 minutes…

We did some steep hills today that nearly took our breath away… It was a foggy, cloudy, dark and dreary morning. In other words, my kind of morning!!!

… 5 miles in the rain today…

There was not a single other car in the parking lot. The trail was all to myself. 16 degrees F – that is minus 9 deg C. I could have done with some company!! Believe it or not – that is indeed me behind that ski mask!!

* Completed 13 years of running. Finished running in 16 countries in those 13 years.
* In 2017, posted 100 mile run per month for every month. Ran in 5 different countries.
* Ran with a lot of friends, ran with strangers and ran by myself.
* Ran by the oceans, ran in the mountains, ran in the trails and ran in the forests.
* Ran in sun, ran in rain, ran in snow.
* Ran by the sunrise, ran by the sunset, ran in midday and ran at night
* Ran mostly for fun. And picked up a few medals on the way…

That was not very enjoyable. But, in all likelihood the last run of the year in USA. I have 3 more miles left to finish off 100 miles every month this year. As has been my practice of the last few years, I will save that milestone For a run with my brother in India when I see him next week.

The weather was gloomy and there was a slight drizzle. I love to run in that kind of weather. But the wooden trail was dangerously slippery. There was overgrown algae after all the damp and wet days of last week and the dead, wet leaves made the wooden trail very treacherous. Every time I tried to pick up speed, I started slipping. One gentleman came crashing down from his bike barely a couple of feet away from me while negotiating a corner. I was pretty sure he would have broken a bone or two. Fortunately, he picked himself up without any help and insisted he did not feel any stinging or intense pain. That was scary though!!!

Now for the last, largely ceremonial milestone run with my brother in India…