Partial Pemi Loop

This past Saturday I headed over to NH to spend some time on the Pemi Loop.  I got a later start than planned, so was going to see how quickly I could progress around the loop prior to committing to the entire adventure.  I had to leave the dogs home and did not have anyone to let them out mid-day.

I start walking to the trailhead a little after 7am.  I noticed Jim Johnson was digging around in the back of his truck as I traversed the lot. I stopped by to see what he was up to (searching for his phone).  Jim indicated he was going to run the loop and that he would likely see me up there.

I was not quite one mile into the run when Jim caught up to me.  We ended up running together until the entrance to the Bondcliff Trail, at which point I needed to stop for a bathroom break.

I caught back up to Jim at the top of Bondcliff, where he was taking a panoramic picture with his iPhone.  We chatted for a couple of minutes before heading toward Bond.

Once again Jim got ahead of me and kindly waited at the top of Mount Bond. Jim indicated that he was going to tag West Bond, but I opted to head straight to the Gailhead Hut given the dogs.

I took off ahead of Jim and stopped at the entrance to West Bond.  It was a very short time before Jim came bounding down the trail and headed to West Bond.

I pushed forward at a moderate effort and finally arrived at the Gailhead Hut in around 3:06 on the clock.  This was not too bad given my prior fastest time (always running with a group), was 4:09.

I refilled my water bottles which were pretty much empty and headed back out to wait for Jim.  I must say that I expected him to catch me way before the Hut.

It was slightly over 30 minutes before Jim showed up. He had a fair bit of blood on him due to gashes on his right hand, left forearm and left knee.  Apparently he took a nice digger right after he returned to the loop from West Bond.

Jim planned to finish the loop despite his left knee starting to stiffen up.  I decided to head down the Twin Brook Trail to 13 Falls, and then down the Franconia Brook Trail so I could get back home to the dogs.

This route down off Gailhead is very runnable, but does include a long traverse.  This traverse started to aggravate a nerve which runs from your ankle to your hip (Sciatica?).  It got worse as the miles wore on and was definitely effecting my gait by the time I returned to the Wilderness Trail.

I pushed on at a fairly slow pace to the starting point. The next stop was the cool river, which I laid in for almost 30 minutes. Boy that felt good.

Strava - Partial Pemi

This was my longest run so far with the Altra Lone Peak 1.5s.  They definitely drain better than I initially thought, but do require more running time than other trail shoes to squish all the water out.

Next up is the Cranmore Mountain Race. I plan on an easy week to ensure my hip is 100%.