Out in the Mud

It rained this morning for an hour so I decided to run instead of ride. I wanted to make the direct connection from town up to the forest paths where I've been running and riding, so I set out from the University and found the 'green' trail on the west side of town. It climbs about 240m in the first 3 km and then drops another 150m into Kvasny Vody. Someone had been driving a large tractor along part of the trail (logging?) turning it into a mud hole. When I got down to the picnic area at KV, I was surprised to meet another runner. Stefan is a mountain runner from a town near Prešov, and wasted no time in telling me that he was 56 years old. He seemed disappointed to find out that I was only a couple of years younger - I think he wanted to beat up on some young guy. I gave him a good run for his money on the climb back up to the ridge, but he definitely had me on the downhill speed (never my strong point). He also showed me a nice detour around the mud hole. Our conversation was a mix of broken Slovak and English, with a few German words for good measure. We didn't exchange contact info, but chances are I'll see him again on the trails - he's training for a bunch of mountain marathons in Switzerland, Italy, etc.