I awoke early this morning and headed out for what was supposed to be a nice run in the country. I plotted a route that would come out to around 11 miles, set its twists and turns in my head and exited my front door.
My original plan was to run this route in the opposite direction that I did it. For some reason, I decided when I got to Stout to turn north and go counterclockwise instead. I ran out of town in the dark, passing a walker whose cigarette smoke I could smell from a block away. Not the most pleasant thing when you're running, but I gave him a cheery "good morning" anyway. I ran past the cemetery and around the corner, down the hill and quietly slipped past the aggressive dog's house without rousing him.
When I got to Highway 61, I turned north again and ran up to 20th. I had a couple of closer than I'd like encounters with vehicles on the highway, so I was really glad to get off of it and run west on the less traveled pavement of 20th.
When I came to 10th, I turned north again. My plan was to run to 40th, turn west toward the airport and then turn south on Highway 281, but when I got to 40th I was feeling good and ran on. I kind of wish now that I hadn't done that, but it seemed like a good plan when I did it.
I ran to 50th and turned east on it. The road took me into Iuka by the Kanza Co-op. I was kind of hoping they'd be open so I could get in a pit stop, but no one was there yet when I passed by at 6:30. Perhaps if I'd been able to take that break the rest of this report would be more pleasant.
I ran out to the highway and headed south. As I was approaching the airport, the wheels all fell off mentally. I was constantly thinking about how nice it would be to stop. I hadn't even run 10 miles yet! All this negative thinking finally got to me and I slowed to a walk for a short time. I needed to get things straightened out. That walk didn't do it. Instead, when I started up again, the thoughts were worse. The continued internal nagging led to two more short walk breaks. Grrrr!
After the third walk, I'd had enough of this stupid stuff! I determined in my heart that I would keep running to 13.1 miles no matter what. I ran into town, crossed over the railroad tracks and turned onto Maple. Shortly afterward, I finished the half marathon distance and hit stop on my Garmin.
My walk home was a slow one. I picked up a few cans and threw them in the cage at the church to help kids raise money for camp. I got a drink of water at the church too, then struggled home. I arrived just as my wife was leaving on her run. I think hers went better than mine. (garmin data)
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