Wow! What a great run! The weather was perfect. I half expected this to be a short run. I have the beginnings of a little upper respiratory bug and I wasn’t sure how well I was going to be able to breathe. I also, against my better judgement, ate a Gyro at the Big E about 45 minutes before my run and I kind of expected that to rot in my gut, but neither was a problem. I could tell by mile 3 that I was going to do the LONG course that I had mapped out on the computer. My breathing felt good. I felt better going uphill and I worked on my stride a bit and I think I found an effective uphill stride. My shins were sore, but nothing worth whining about.
My “Holy Crap - This is so Cool” moment came around mile 4. I was running uphill and in the distance I saw what I thought was a dog in the middle of the road, so I reached in my pocket and got a dog treat ready. I quickly realized though that it wasn’t a dog, it was a deer. I slowed my pace slightly and got within 20 feet of her before she darted off into the woods.
I had Aubrey in the stroller today. She slept a good portion of the run, but cried nearly non-stop for the last mile and a half. One lady who was mowing her front yard looked at me like I was the worst dad in the world because I just kept running. But, what was I going to do? I figured the faster I got home, the happier she would be. McKenna would have enjoyed the deer and there are lots more horses along the section I added on Greenwich Plain Road and Fisherdick Road. When I’m due for another long run, I’ll have to take her. The course is a good hilly workout. Most of my runs are hilly, but only have between a 200 and 270 foot ascent. Today’s run had a 456 foot ascent.
At the risk of giving a little self-praise, I have to write this - today was the LONGEST RUN OF MY LIFE! I’ve done 10Ks before, but even when I was training for them I never exceeded 8 miles. Today’s 9 mile run was my record. Now I just have to work on my time. Who am I kidding? I need to work on many things.
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