August 3, 1979 (Friday)

From running log:
Ran 5.5 miles at 6:15 pace on sandy trails in the woods near Solon Springs, Wisconsin. Great to get off the roads, alone. Hip a little sore, oh no! Feeling good. Clearing my mind.

30 years later:
I wonder if I really ran 6:15 pace, or if that was just the over-confidence of youth. Sometimes when you hit the trails it feels like you are just flying along, because the bushes and trees on both sides are so close, brushing your elbows, and whizzing past.

At any rate, I certainly ran fast on this day, especially after not running the day before.

If you want to know more about Solon Springs and the surrouding area, click here or here. It's not quite the far-from-the-beaten-path place that it was 30 years ago, but then again places like that don't change very fast. That area of the country is still clean, cool, and friendly, with crystal clear spring-fed streams and plenty of woods to get lost in for a day. And its place in history is tied up with it being the link between the Great Lakes waterway and the Mississippi River. You could put your canoe into the water in New York City, and paddle yourself halfway across the country, then turn straight south and connect to the Mississippi, then follow it all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. To do so, you'd have to pass right through Solon Springs.