Lost in the Woods

This past weekend I got lost while hiking Mount Cabot.  Not “dangerously” lost mind you, but lost none-the-less.  I had heard all about the poorly marked, off-limits, portion of trail on the Lancaster side of Mount Cabot due to a Forest Service dispute with a land-owner.  But, as part of a last minute schedule change, I moved Cabot from Part Two to Part One of my Summer of 48 hiking extravaganza and was therefore a little bit unprepared for the task at hand.

YouTube Twenty

I  think one of the best things about living in the "internet age" is the instant access to all the great stuff that gets posted on YouTube.  From old Music Videos and TV Show Re-runs to  Inspirational Films and Embarrassing Home Movies, YouTube has it all!   I especially love finding some of the funny and original stuff that people put out there which eventually goes viral.  It's mostly unintentional, but almost always hysterical.   So, without further ado, here are my Top Twenty (for now) Funniest Internet Videos (with links)
sung to the tune of "My Favorite Things" - from the Sound of Music

Web-Caming  Seniors and Shark on a Roomba.
Baby Who's Laughing and Dynamite Boom-ba .
Dick in a Box that’s all tied up with strings.
These are my favorite internet things!

A Trip to the Dentist and Double Rainbow
Ninja and Star Wars  and Don’t Tase Me, Bro
Little Superstar and a Scarlet who sings.
These are my favorite internet things!

I Like Turtles so Leave Britney Alone.
Grape Gal and Ice Dude who fall on their own.
Silver white Whales that Explode into spring.
These are my favorite internet things!

When Charlie Bites, and Howard Dean Screams.
When I'm Driving Bad, I simply remember
My internet things and then I don't feel so saaaad!

Summer of 48

The great state of New Hampshire has 48 mountain peaks that are 4,000 feet high (or higher) and over the years I have climbed 36 of them.  Some, like Washington, I’ve done more than once. But, for one reason or another, there are 12 that I have missed altogether.  Some because they are pretty remote, such as: Cabot, Waumbek, Isolation and Owl’s Head.  And, some because they just weren’t on the way to wherever I was going, such as: Willey, Hale, Tecumseh and The Hancocks.  This summer I plan to rectify this situation.

Mud World

It’s been over a week since I ran the Pineland Farms 25k Trail Race.  I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to write about it.  I guess it’s because there’s really not much to say.  It rained for the better part of the week leading up to the race, rendering the dirt and field trails barely passable on race day.  I had hoped to run well this year to “avenge” last years personal worst, but I ended up sliding all over the place, straining my calf (again), slowing down to stretch it out and even stopping to change shoes (mid-race) on the way to setting a brand-spanking NEW Pineland personal worst!

My splits were all over the place – as low as 21:47 (5k) and as high as 27:56 (also 5k). My finishing time was 2:04:30 which was a full 9 minutes slower than my Pineland best and nearly a minute slower than last year’s debacle.  It's been 3 years now that I've run this race, and I really like it a lot.  But, it's also been 3 straight years of getting slower, and that's no fun.  IF I run this race next year, I sure would like to stop that particular trend! But that's a big IF.  Right now, this 15.6 mile slip-n-slide race has left a bad taste in my mouth.  One that I'm hoping will be rinsed out by a nice, quick Hollis Fast 5k next week.  Oh well, at least the rain stopped (eventually) and the team won some beers!