Strictly prohibited

I was talking to some friends last night and I have made the vow that I will be definitely running the Turkey Trot in Hagerstown on Thanksgiving Morning.  I’m not sure if I will be running it for time or just to do it.  I’m hoping that it is a PR run. That’s almost two months away, surely I can speed myself up in that time frame.  I was speeding up consistently getting faster when I was running regularly. However, those excuses (valid, yet still excuses)  that I talked about in the last post derailed me from running regularly and my speed/pace has suffered. (and it wasn’t all that fast to begin with…but it was MY time).  So anyway……  Turkey Trot….thanksgiving morning.  Who’s in????  J

We have also talked about running something in October.  I think we settled on the Spooky two miler. It takes place in Hagerstown right before the parade. Two miles…from the fairgrounds to the parade center/grandstand area.  Costumes encouraged.  Sounds fun right?????  Any takes to join me/us on this one????

So that leaves me with getting my butt out of bed in the morning and actually getting out there and running.   Plans are in my head to DO IT!  (yes, I feel like a Nike commercial…which I never ‘got’ until I really started to just take the “just do it” attitude.)

Then this morning I made a sad discovery/revelation.  You see, I live in Sharpsburg, MD.  To be specific I live in a swatch of land that is nestled between the Antietam Battlefield and the C&O Canal. Yes, our land is sandwiched between two national parks.   It’s actually a really great thing.  I have lots of options for running and riding and walking that are off the busy roads.  I prefer to do the bulk of my running in these areas because, quite frankly; people are nuts on the public roads.     It is a great perk.     But back to the revelation.  Government Shutdown.  Yes, I know government workers that are affected and I feel bad for them since they have to suffer with their glorious time off of work,   (yeah, yeah yeah…I know it could hurt their wallets in a really bad way…so it’s not so glorious!! My friends that are affected are in my thoughts and prayers as they work to make the adjustments necessary to survive!) )but it really didn’t affect me.  Except that I’m a big big user of these national parks…….uhhhhhh this stuff is getting real now!  You’ve closed the gates to my beloved canal????  WAAAAAAAAAAA

The notices on the canal signs and it’s partners (non government) website  say that use is strictly prohibited.  Uhhhh  first of all, if I cut through the woods on my property and access it that way will I be ‘strictly prohibited’???   How will they enforce this?  Will it be a federal offence if I’m caught?  Hmmmm  

The battlefield is another question mark. They don’t have the roads to the north end of the battlefield blocked…they can’t, there are still people living on the battlefield. (my co-worker is one).  So there are no clear signage (that I have seen, maybe I should drive by this evening to look).   

I guess this chickie pie may be running on the ‘boring’ roads for a while.   Ok, they aren’t too boring…I mean, I saw the most picture opportunity one day on the road.  I made friends with a cow that was loose another day.  So lots of fun to still be had.