I woke up at 5:30am and prepared the dogs for more sleep...i.e. feed 'em, poop 'em, and get 'em back to their respective beds. Then I was allowed to get myself ready for the longest run I've attempted this season. 18 miles.
I ate cheese, drank my wheat grass, prepared my Batman Utility Belt with water, packed my cell phone and debit card, and greased up all the areas that would incur abrasion (I'll stop there).
I wore a short wicker shirt with a long sleeve polypro on top... then slapped on my yellow reflector vest that my beautiful wife bought for me (only $6 for my safety in the dark!).
The garage door opened and the 51 degree weather slapped me in the face....and I was off! The streets were 100% dark when I left and the reflector jacket came in handy as some cars drove by in the wee hours of that Saturday morn. My allergies were still affecting me a little bit, but I stopped sneezing by the time I got to City Hall (about mile 1). I did, however, have that dry burning feeling in my nose for a couple miles after that. yuck.
My legs felt good with a steady easy pace to start off, as I knew the end would be difficult. I was surprised at the the number of cars at that hour, but very happy with the performance of the reflector vest....every car gave me an entire lane to show true courtesy. A tip of the hat to those drivers.
The run, for the most part, was a none-event...which is a great thing! I was able to relax, think, pray, and did a little strategizing for psoap as well. When you think about it, most movies do not take 2 hours and 40 minutes. . . . so you have to do a lot of brain activity to keep yourself entertained.
I did get very tired around mile 11, and I had to wait until mile 13 to stop at the gas station of 549 and 276. That was my only stop, and walked into the store, grabbed 2 sets of cookie packs for sugar and energy....posed as an excellent example of the visa debit card commercial... and hit the trail again. It really is important to practice eating while running... so I slowly chewed my vanilla oreos and fig newtons... My absolute favorite run cookie.
Energized to finish the final 5 miles, I had a new pace with a bit of a hop in my step, but that quickly denigrated away. On mile 14, there is a long stretch of a hill called Rochelle Road which connects 276 and I-30 service road...and it was a beating... I knew that if I could crest that hill, I'd be home free...kinda. After what seemed to be forever and truly the "longest mile"... I only had a 5K remaining. The running did get a lot better after that hill on Rochelle Road and all was well until I hit the Woodcreek section of Fate Main...
At this point, I had 1 (ONE!) final mile to go before reaching the house and thoroughly exhausted... it had been a little over 2 and a half hours of running. I didn't think I could make it, but I had not slowed down yet. Then, right about at the water tower on Fate Main, a dark 4 door car approached slowly... Only one person was in the car, a man that looked to be in his 30's wearing glasses and nice clothes. The man, let's call him Luke, leaned close to his steering wheel, and looked straight at me..... started to smile REALLY big, and shook his head from side to side as he rolled by...
That single moment gave me the energy to finish the run strong all the way back to Mulberry. I thought that entire last mile of what that guy was thinking...
- Did he see me in Rockwall?
- Did he see me at 6am?
- How far does he think I traveled that morning?
- Was he making a run to the store for his family earlier that morning?
Thanks for taking a gander at my blog today. Cheers!
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2 comments:
well done bro. from all us retired athletes out there, I congratulate you. Sometimes my legs yearn to be used and abused like that but then suddenly the moment fades almost as quickly as it arrived. I'm still losing muscle mass every month. I lose about a pound a month and it ain't fat. 10 years of competitive running escaping into glorious thin air. I wonder if after I retire (graduate) from medical school, if everything i crammed into my frontal lobes over 4 years will vanish month by month, little by little just like my legs. Thoughts?
anyway, congratulations on your fantastic 18 miler. You are quite the athlete. And I am very proud of you.
here I am checking your blog like a good sister and there's not a new post! :-(
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