Mt Taylor - solo

I set out this morning in the rain to run Mt Taylor with my Saturday running group, only to find the group had found the morning too cold and wet and, like little pikelets, had given it a miss.

So it was left to me to do battle - alone - with the elements, to run hither and tither through slosh and sleet, across brooke and dale to the lofty heights of this mighty summit overlooking Canberra's southern suburbs. It was enough to make one sing.....(and I can just hear Julie Andrews now...."Climb every mountain....").

Actually it turned out to be quite a good run. The conditions were certainly crappy. Lots of low cloud, fog, cold rain, and the temperature hovering around eight. But I soon got warm working my way up the trail to the top of Mt Taylor. And it was a sloshly trail too...I was was going up one way, and gravity was doing its trick with little rivers of water going down the other. Unlike the last time I did this trip, there was not a soul to be seen. That added another dimension to the run; a little eerie though with heavy fog covering the top.

It's a reasonably steep run to the summit but worth the effort. It was magic up there. The rain was more like sleet and stung my face. There was a strong breeze up there too, bringing with it more of that low fog and cloud swirling through Woden Valley. I felt like I was on top of the world watching Lady Nature mix her basic elements. Euphoria kicked in after that struggle to get to the top and I stood there admiring the view. God it felt great to be alive.

I didn't stay too long. My waterproof New Balance running jacket proved to be not so waterproof and I was soaked to the bone and cold. By the time I got back to where I had parked my car I looked like something the cat had dragged in. If it wasn't for those nice Brooks Adrenaline running shoes I was wearing, I probably would have been mistaken for an amoeba washed up from a prehistoric swamp. Perhaps Fred and Wilma may have found me of some use (see my post on them of 4 June).

I really missed my running friends too. They're more wiser than me. The conditions and common sense suggested I probably should have given this run a miss, and that was certainly what I was telling myself before I started the run sitting in my nice warm car.

Yet to make it to the top of Mt Taylor in those conditions was something special, a little tonic for the spirit. And I couldn't afford to miss a run with the City to Surf only a few weeks away. I felt I just had to do the run.