Big things in little Rhode Island

I have a tendency to make fun of Rhode Island.  The weird accents, hot weiners, corrupt government, huge debt, and doomsday street names (Can you say Breakneck Hill Road?).  Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite people are from Rhode Island, and my favorite place to ride my horse is in Rhode Island.  And then there's Newport, a favorite of mine for shopping, dining, beaching, perusing mansions, and strolling down the Cliff Walk.  Yes, Rhode Island does have lots to offer if I stop and think about it.

A couple months ago I bought my son a new Cannondale mountain bike.  He had borrowed mine and loved it so much he wanted one for himself.  I was thrilled at the idea of having an activity to share with him, but I wasn't thrilled about the pricetag on the bike.  If he truly wanted to ride this bike, I explained, he would have to be willing to ride it regularly.  For our first ride we went on the trails behind my house.  There are some good gravel sections but also some more technical trails with rocks, roots, and hills.  In hindsight I probably should have started him off with something easier.  He did pretty well, but I think he got a little discouraged when he took a couple tumbles.  After that debut, we decided to get on some easier terrain, which is when we scoped out the Milford bike path.  That was our first time on a bike path and Andrew loved how much easier it was.  Instead of rocks and roots and hills, the only obstacles we had to work around were crowds of teenagers.  I let him ride this path a couple times as confidence boosting rides, but then we headed back to the trails.  The trails have gotten a little easier for him and I've avoided the more difficult ones.

In the meantime, we had heard of another bike path in Rhode Island.  Although personally I like the challenge of the trails, I thought Andrew might like a change of scenery to keep him interested.  I have to skillfully manipulate encourage him and thought another bike path would be fun for him.  The Milford bike path was nice, but short and some of the questionable characters we passed made me a little uneasy.  I heard the Rhode Island bike path was longer, so we decided to check it out.

Another reason for my sudden interest in checking out the bike path was that I just bought a new bike rack!  No more stuffing bikes into the back of the SUV.  So naturally I was dying for an excuse to test it out.  Of course, never having used a bike rack before I was instantly confused and started panicking a little.  I made an emergency call over to Scott, who lives in Missouri.  Yes, the only person I could think of at that moment that might be able to help me out lives 2,000 miles away.  So I verbally explained my confusion, and he walked me through some steps.  I snapped a couple pictures of the bike rack with the bikes attached and sent them over to him for review.  After some gentle heckling regarding my purple mountain bike, he gave me the green light.



Whoa, nice rack!


On Saturday we ventured out in search of the bike path.  I got directions to the start of the path which took us deep into Woonsocket, which also has questionable areas.  Driving through the city, I had very low expectations.  My biggest concern was the value of the goods attached to the back of my vehicle.  I was thankful I opted for the rack that has a locking hitch and a locking cable that goes around the bikes.  No one's stealing my precious cargo!  We got to the parking lot safely, and when I started unloading the bikes I realized two major errors I made.  In my excitement of using the bike rack, I forgot to 1. pack my Camelpak, and 2. check the air pressure in my tires (which for some reason were a little low).  It was a rookie mistake and I'm sure as I get more comfortable with packing up the truck I'll develop a better routine.

After double and triple checking that everything was locked up, we headed towards the path.  Since my tires were a little low and I didn't have any water in the 88 degree heat, I didn't expect we would be out very long.  Immediately after getting onto the path, we were amazed at how nice it was!  The path follows the Blackstone River (the name of the bike path is actually the Blackstone River Bikeway).  We could not have been more shocked or pleasantly surprised at this path.  There was a cool breeze coming off the water, and the path was tree lined and very scenic.  There wasn't a lot of traffic on the path and everyone we passed was pleasant.  The path was well groomed and maintained with plenty of places to pull off, benches to sit on, and access to the river for fishing.  We even spotted a pair of deer!  We stopped at this scenic waterfall in Lincoln, RI.

It may not have been the challenging workout I was aiming for, but Andrew and I had a blast and before we realized it we had already gone six miles.  We stopped for a water break and then turned around for the return six mile trip.  What's great is that we only scratched the surface of the length of the path, so I'm anxious to go back and go further!  I also thought that in the future this will be a nice place for me to get in some long runs when preparing for any upcoming half or full marathons.  It's a safe and mostly flat route, and it would be a great way to get in long miles without the interruption of cars.

So, Rhode Island is starting to grow on me.  It seems that the things I like about the state are starting to outweigh the things I don't like.  I even just learned about a new race in Newport called the Newport Bridge Run, which sounds incredibly cool.  It's a loop around Jamestown and then 2 miles up and over the Newport Pell bridge.  Depending on how things go with my hip, I might think about signing up for it.  As long as they don't serve hot weiners at the post race party!

Click here to see our route

Picking battles

The hip drama continues, a constant cycle of rest, run, reinjure, repeat.  I can honestly say I've been a better patient over the last couple weeks though, and as a result I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of days.  I'd like to say it's because I'm maturing, but I think honestly it's because I was really just in too much pain to run.  Some days it was almost too painful to walk.  Tomorrow is the Harvard Pilgrim 10K at Gillette Stadium (home of the Patriots!) and I've been looking forward to this race all year.  The thought of having to miss this race gave me the motivation I needed to give my hip a break.  As promised, I even bailed out of racing the West Hill Dam 5 miler on Thursday, although I did still volunteer.  (More about this in an upcoming blog when I can do it justice). 
The extensive rest seems to have helped a bit, because the inflamation has definitely gone down and my hip has been feeling a lot better.  Finally, on Friday I had to test it out.  I knew if I had any chance of running a 10K this weekend, I had to at least see if I could run.  So, Friday night I slowly (and I mean slowly) jogged 3.75 miles around the West Hill Dam trails.  At an excrutiatingly slow pace I shuffled along, testing out the hip and all other body parts.  Everything in my body seemed to say the same thing.  What the?? I thought you retired us!  It was frustrating running so slowly, especially when my hip was burning and I was hovering close to a 10 minute pace.  The run was a success though, and mission accomplished.  My hip wasn't any more sore after the run, and everything else seemed to hold up just fine.  (And, no heart failure!)  After that hip-tester run, I finalized my weekend plans for the 10K.

On Saturday Kerri, Andrew and I took a drive down to Patriots Place in Foxboro to pick up our bibs.  It was a nice afternoon to check out the shops and it was a great chance to see Gillette Stadium when it wasn't mobbed with people.  It really is such a beautiful stadium.

Gillette Stadium. Eerily quiet!

We took our time wandering through the shops and I grabbed a couple horsie shirts in the Life is Good store.  I scoped out some future watering holes.  I'll be paying this place a visit real soon!

I'm excited for tomorrow, and it's a fun feeling to have no pressure going into this race.  Not that I've ever been a fast runner, but knowing that this race will most certainly be my slowest, and that I'm truly running it "just to finish" somehow is a relief.  It's going to be a great time with a fun atmosphere, lots of friends there, and my son cheering me on and taking pictures.  After the race, a bunch of us are heading over to Ronnie's for a little grilling and swimming.  I'm hoping for some cool water to soak what's sure to be an aching hip.  Reader beware, the next race report blog post is bound to be a colorful one!  Happy 4th!

A truly scenic adventure

After our fun run at work on Thursday, now suddenly I can’t get enough exploring different routes.  I had taken Friday and Saturday off of running, but this morning I was fully charged and ready to run.  When I go through a decision process as to which route to run, there are several factors to consider: How many miles do I want to run?  What are the weather and road conditions?  Is there a short cut if I want to head back early?  Is there an optional extra loop if I’m feeling frisky?  Do I feel like climbing that mammoth hill outside my driveway, or would I rather head downhill on the trails out back?  This morning I didn’t have time to run through the entire checklist because I rolled out of bed and laced right up.  I knew I had a busy day ahead with a long ride planned for my horse, so I didn’t have a lot of time to think about the run.  A couple critical things I knew: I wanted a decent 6-8 mile run, and I didn’t feel like climbing the mammoth hill. 

I dressed for a warm day since it was in the 50’s and it looked like the sun was trying to come out.  A nasty storm had blown through last night and the weather was still very unsettled with gusty winds.  At first I started to regret my choice of clothing because the wind really picked up and I got quite chilly.  Once I got to the dam, it was all I could do to keep my visor from blowing off.  Eventually I made my way across the dam and the wind subsided, and I started to warm up.  Although I still wasn’t convinced I wore the right clothes, I was very happy that I brought my camera.  Today ended up being a great scenic run!  For starters, I snapped a picture of the West Hill Dam, a frequent stop of mine for the famous “Damn Laps”.

West Hill Dam - home of the infamous Dam Laps

After crossing over the dam, I really didn’t have a plan.  I decided to just keep running and exploring some new roads.  The storm from last night had dumped several inches of rain, and there was evidence of it everywhere.  The trail that brought me to the dam was flooded and it was a challenge making my way through without getting wet.  The water roared through the dam’s spillway, and deep puddles and washouts lined the streets.  When I left for my run this morning I hadn’t even turned on the news, so I had no idea how much it had rained.  This was probably a good thing since, had I known, I probably would have talked myself out of such an adventurous run.

I continued down a street until I connected with another trail that runs along the Blackstone River.  The water was so strong and powerful, I couldn’t help but stop and take a couple more photos. 



Raging water!



This river trail was so scenic, I slowed to a jog to fully enjoy the view. 

I stopped to take a picture of River Bend Farm, a very picturesque part of town. 



River Bend Farm



This trail was so enjoyable to run on, I could have just run up and down it all day.  I had to take another picture of the trail and river, to give everyone just a glimpse of the amazing scenery I was lucky enough to see on my run. 



The river trail



Once I reached the end of the river trail I was back on roads, and ended up doing a big loop until I made my way back to the dam and eventually home.

This run was a real treat on so many levels.  I loved all of the new scenery, and the adventure of building a new route.  The combination of trails and roads was perfect, and it was surprisingly flat.  I know I won’t be able to use this route regularly for my long run because of its lack of hills, but it is a great way to accumulate decent miles (7.25) while mentally recharging.  It will also never be a fast route for me, since all my picture taking and leisurely jogging down the trail jacked my pace up to a 9:59 average.  But honestly, today… I wasn’t counting.

No Regrets!

They say you almost never regret going for a run that you really didn’t feel like doing, but you almost always regret skipping one.  Yesterday certainly challenged that philosophy for me.  A couple months ago in a post called Countdown to Hyannis, I described how I came to the conclusion that I should never drink Arrogant Bastard beers on a Wednesday night.  Apparently I need to re-read my blog on occasion to remind myself of the life lessons I’ve learned.  Unfortunately, I didn’t remember this little factoid until yesterday morning when once again I was feeling lousy after too good of a time the night before.  (Bastards!)

I spent the morning feeling dehydrated and overtired, and had a complete lack of energy because of an inadequate breakfast.  Todd, Jaimee and I headed out on the 3.5 mile loop and even though it’s probably my least favorite route, I was thankful for the short distance.  As soon as we headed out I knew I was going to have a tough run.  My legs felt like lead and my head throbbed with every stride.  To make matters even worse, the first mile of this run is straight downhill which means the last mile is straight uphill.  If I was struggling this much on the downhill, I knew it would only get worse on the way back.

About a mile and a half into the run, we came across a trail.  We had heard about the trail but couldn’t access it until the snow melted.  This was the first time we saw people on the trail so we decided to give it a try.  Part of me was skeptical because I just wasn’t in the mood to explore, but since I consider this to be a fairly boring loop, I welcomed the idea of new scenery.

We hopped onto the trail and immediately it was like we stepped into another world.  We left the boring industrial park behind us and trotted down a skinny, well packed trail alongside the Merrimack River.  It was so close to the river, in fact, that I worried one wrong step and I’d be plunging into some chilly water.  The trail was a blast as it winded further and further down the river, and any feeling I had of lead legs was long gone.  We had no idea where the trail would ultimately take us, and that was part of the fun.  We saw park benches and a wooden bridge, and occasionally passed some walkers.  Eventually the trail came to an end at a spillway, and we connected with a road that we suspected would bring us back to some familiar ground.  It did, but not without taking us up a rather steep hill!  Suddenly the hill didn’t bother me though because the adventure was worth it, and I enjoyed the new scenery.

Once we connected back with the main road we chattered about what a great run this was, and then speculated where the other end of the trail might lead.  Then we talked about another trail down another road that we might want to try out someday.  Suddenly the opportunities to explore seemed endless, and we felt like the Louis & Clarks of Andover, MA.  Last week Todd and I plotted to someday bring our mountain bikes to work and explore the trails around town.  I’m starting to think we might never come back!

When we got back to the parking lot at work, Jaimee insisted we sprint around the lot.  She recently joined a local running club and last week she participated in a track speed session (wearing her compression socks).  Suddenly Jaimee’s a track star and now we have to do sprints.  Sigh…  So off we went, running like hell through the parking lot, no doubt causing a scene and scaring the wits out of anyone looking out the windows or driving by.  We looked like maniacs, and I was a soggy mess with sweat dripping into my eyes.  We slowed to a finish and I have to admit it was pretty fun (although I repeatedly told them how much I hate them for making me work so hard).  We stopped to stretch before heading in, and I repeatedly wiped the sweat off my face and nonchalantly blew my nose mightily right into my shirt.  It only occurred to me as I was walking into the building that blowing one’s nose into one’s shirt at work may be considered inappropriate.  However, the only witnesses were smokers, so in a contest of who’s less gross, I still think I win. 

I didn’t regret this run for one second, despite my earlier complaints.  Instead, it ended up being one of the best and most entertaining runs we’ve ever had at lunch and I would have regretted it deeply if I had skipped it.  I’m very eager to try out more of the trails at lunch, and I’m almost disappointed that I’m on vacation next week and won’t get a chance to do more exploring.  Almost.

To Heaven and Back

My quest to reenergize myself and prepare for the 15k continues.  After logging insufficient miles leading up to New Bedford, I’m getting on the right track now with some decent distances.  Today I insisted on completing a long run, so I decided to dust off a route that I haven’t done since last September when I was preparing for the Harwich Half Marathon.  This is the kind of route you can’t do in the winter because of snow banks, and because the last mile of it is a trail.  I’ve been looking forward to running this route again, and decided to go for it and take a gamble that the trail was clear.  I like this route for many reasons: It’s scenic, it has a lot of hills, it has a lot of flat sections, there’s not a lot of traffic, it’s on some of the same roads as the 15k coming up next week, and there’s no short cut home.  That’s right…when I get out on this route I better be feeling good, because there is no quick way home if things start hurting. 

                Today I learned three things about this route:

1.       My long run isn’t as long as I thought it was.  (I thought 9, it was only 7.75)

2.       It’s not easy taking pictures while running

3.       I’m terrible at sneaking up on llamas

I decided to take my phone with me for a couple reasons:

1.       My mother gets nervous when I run this loop because the roads are very rural and perfect for kidnapping sweaty people, running sweaty people off the road, and causing sweaty people to become disoriented and start wandering through the woods.

2.       Photo Op!

Since this is one of the more scenic runs, I thought it would be nice to share some of the sights I see along the way.  I take some heat sometimes for being a simple country girl that lives in the sticks, and some people can’t understand why I choose to live out here and commute 70 miles to work.  Well, besides the fact that my horse wouldn’t fit in a studio apartment, I’d be missing out on all this scenery!  My first picture is one of a horse farm.  You can’t see a lot from this photo, but supposedly on a clear night you can see Boston from here.

                Shortly past the horse farm is another farm that recently was featured as a must-see of Massachusetts tourist spots.  I love driving past this farm and seeing the llamas all standing with their heads poking over the fence, so curious about everything.  Today one of the llamas was lying down in the sun, and I tried to sneak up on him to get a picture.  That llama was no fool though, and immediately bounced to his feet when he saw me.  I hope the farmers didn’t see me.  I can’t imagine what they would be thinking, seeing a lady in a fluorescent windbreaker on their property, crouching behind their stone wall, trying to hide from their llamas. 

                I continued on, and eventually joined up with some of the roads on the 15k route next week.  Oh yes, I guess I forgot how hilly that course is!  Next week might hurt a little, but for today I took it nice and easy.  My favorite part comes after going up, up and up some more... There’s a street sign that reads, “Entering Heaven”.  Now I can’t divulge what I experienced after “crossing over”; you’d just have to see that for yourself.  Let’s just say, the climb was worth it.  J

             

   Shortly after passing through Heaven, I connected with the trail to head home.  I was feeling great, and I attribute this to the Gatorade Prime Carb drink I brought with me and sucked down around the 5 mile mark.  I decided that I will no longer attempt energy gels, because I just can’t seem to swallow them very well.  But this 4oz Carb drink in a nifty little pouch was easy to carry, easy to drink, and definitely seemed to give me energy for the last 3 miles.  The trail home was fun and challenging with lots of logs, roots, rocks, and patches of snow to maneuver around.  I felt great when I got back, and easily could have kept going.  My plan is to run three more times this week and then I’ll be ready for the 15k.  I’m hoping next weekend will have warmer temps, because today’s 36 degrees and blustery wind was not the warm Spring afternoon I hoped for.  I said a little prayer earlier though, while running through Heaven, so let’s see if anyone was listening.

The signs of Spring!

Spring is in the air here in New England!  After endless complaints of the cold and snow, today was a picture perfect – and might I add – well deserved Spring day.  (Must be the luck o’ the Irish!)  I have been hiding from my Asics and avoiding looking other runners in the eyes over the last week, and have not run even once since – gasp – a week ago.  I realize I’m taking a huge gamble on this, with a half marathon coming up on Sunday, but with my foot and my stomach getting progressively crankier over the last week I felt I needed to scale back a bit.  Well… scale back I did!  At this time last month, while complaining about the weather, I had accumulated about 60 miles.  Today, I’m up to 30.  I knew it was critical that I got in a decent run today if I had any chance of completing the half on Sunday, and at some point I had to dust off my foot and see how it held up.  With temperatures in the 50’s, today was the perfect day to give it a shot.

                Todd, Kerri and I were supposed to run together at lunch but at the last minute Todd bailed (for some “work related” conference call – this is the first evidence of Todd actually “working” since I met him in December).  Luckily Old Reliable was still up for a run, so Kerri and I headed out on our favorite Ice Cream stand route.   Technically Spring doesn’t begin until Sunday, but today for us was the official start to Spring.  Here’s why:

·         Today marked the first day we traded in our full length running tights for running Capri’s.  A small change to some, but to me having my ankles exposed felt like I was running around half naked.  (Not to mention my pasty ankles would no doubt blind some drivers).

·         The roads were so crowded with runners and walkers it was akin to running an organized race.  Part of me expected to see an aid station on the way back.

·         The driving range was open!  The driving range is adjacent to the ice cream stand, and from a good distance we could hear the unmistakable strike of the golf ball and the subsequent crackle as the ball ricocheted between trees after taking a sharp slice off the tee. 

·         It’s still unclear if the actual ice cream stand was open but we once again confirmed our future Summer plans to someday stop in for a cone during our run.  

As we headed back to the building, we were honked and waved at by a guy on a motorcycle, who I’m pretty sure was mesmerized by our exposed ankles.  Seems even the motorcyclists have a touch of the Spring Fever. 

                For all the preparation that had gone into training for Hyannis, I have done surprisingly little for New Bedford.  There have been no dress rehearsals, and no time spent fretting over directions, pre-race foods, or energy gels.  At this point there’s nothing I can do to improve my fitness so hopefully the base I had developed for Hyannis will be enough to get me through this race.  And if that’s not enough, maybe the Luck O’ the Irish will carry me through!  J

(In the interest of full disclosure… I’m only a wee bit o’ Irish.  But it’s Saint Patrick’s Day, so why not jump on the bandwagon.  Plus, it’s way cooler than say… Bastille Day.)

Running - a team sport??

One of my favorite things about running is the solitude.  I know some people are social creatures that enjoy a good kibitzing while logging a couple miles.  I’m not one of those people.  I cherish the alone time.  It’s the only time of my life that no one is talking to me, questioning me, telling me to do something, or telling me what I did wrong.  It’s my time to clear my head, daydream, tune out, sight-see, and mentally recharge.  Last month when I started running with friends at work, I was like a fish out of water.  I’m used to being alone.  Suddenly, I had to learn the etiquette of running with others.  I never expected to have to deal with this since one of the best parts of running, in my opinion, is that it is not a team sport.  Somewhere along the line, I started to enjoy the company.  As it turns out, it didn’t turn me into one of those kibitzers and didn’t slow me down.  It prompted a little friendly competition and I actually started looking forward to our club runs.  Slowly, I’m converting into a social creature (against my wishes, naturally).

                Today I had a goal of running my 8 mile loop.  It’s been a while since I did this loop and I figured I better get it in before we get snow.  Most of the day went by and the sneakers remained locked in the closet and I stayed tucked into my bed watching CSI on TiVo.  Maybe what I needed…say it ain’t so…was a little social motivation.  I threw a text over to my friend Ron, a running buddy of mine.  He’s a pretty busy guy and I knew with 98% certainty he wouldn’t be able to meet me for a run.  But by throwing the offer out there, I felt like I had at least attempted to run.  My excuse tomorrow would have been, well I had asked Ronnie to run with me and by the time I heard back it was too late so I just stayed home and ate leftovers, in bed.  To my astonishment he not only agreed to meet me for a run, but named the time and the place.  I was locked in.  There’s no getting around it now.

                The place Ronnie picked was Lincoln Woods in Lincoln RI.  This location is a distance runner’s dream.  There is a winding, hilly 2.5 mile loop that circles a lake.  It’s scenic and the hills are challenging enough to get the legs working hard but they are also short and forgiving.  The best part about it is you can choose your own distance.  Only have time for a short run?  Go around once.  Feel like pushing yourself?  Just keep going around in circles until you collapse at your car.  Take one guess which option we took…

                Ronnie and I suffer from the same condition:  A bizarre euphoria that occurs when running to the point of exhaustion.  Still, we agreed at the beginning of the run that we were going to keep it really slow, chit-chat, and just enjoy a casual winter run.  The 2.5 loop was a perfect option as Ronnie was suffering from a nagging leg injury and I was suffering from the effects of 1+ bottles of wine from the night before.  The run was just as planned.  We started with a slow pace and spent the whole loop catching up and telling stories.  We passed a handful of walkers, rock climbers, and bikers.  The loop went by so quickly, and I couldn’t help but notice that our pace nudged up a little faster the further we ran.  As we approached the parking lot, we didn’t even acknowledge the cars, and headed towards loop number two.  5 miles, that’s a good distance for today considering I’ve eaten nothing but a half cup of cottage cheese all day.  Considering I was going to lie in bed all afternoon.  Yeah, 5 miles is perfect for today. 

                Loop number two passed even more quickly than the first.  Our speed increased, we were in a good rhythm, and the stories just kept flowing.  We passed more runners and walkers.  Some were the same we had seen in the last loop, some were new.  We passed a lady with the same little tiny dog and commented on how she hadn’t gone more than 200 yards since we passed her 2.5 miles ago.  We speculated that maybe she needs a dog with longer legs.  The hills that were a little challenging last time were a little more painful this time, but we distracted ourselves with more stories and chatter.  At one point Ronnie said, “Running with you is like running with a little pony”.  He’s a real charmer.  As we were nearing completion, I casually mentioned that I would need to tighten my shoelace before continuing on.  We paused, I adjusted my sneaker, and just like that… we headed towards loop number three.

                By loop number three, we were in strong running form and very much in synch.  We make a nice running pair because we both seem to naturally adjust our speed, and he commented on how I’m the perfect running partner.  Take that, Todd.  Our stories became less frequent and we both ran in silence a little more than the last two laps.  But always, when we came near a hill, we picked up the conversation again.  It became our survival guide, and it worked.  Before we knew it, we had climbed another hill.  At this point, some of the same people now smile and chuckle when they see us passing them for the third time.  We didn’t say as much, but I’m pretty sure Ronnie was thinking the same thing I was.  Yeah that’s right, we are hardcore distance runners.  Hardcore, baby. 

                Finally, as we headed back to the parking lot after completing 7.5 miles, I thought to myself: We should keep going an extra quarter mile out and back to make it an even 8.  Just as I was about to suggest this Ronnie beat me to it by saying, “What do you think, one more?”  I didn’t hesitate.  Loop number four commenced.  We agreed though that if we were going to do one last loop, we were going to have to at least take it slow.  We slowed down considerably, and I couldn’t help but notice how many cars and come and gone from the parking lot in the time we had gone around and around and around.  This made me happy.  We have outrun everyone in the park at this point.  We continued onto loop number four in more silence, our legs a little heavier this time around.  We passed a couple of the same people again, who at this point must be convinced we are lost or delusional.  The hills were most certainly bigger this time around, and I commented that my legs were hurting making the climbs, although I also noticed that our pace had nudged back up again.  He agreed, and said this was definitely his last loop.  He would never have been able to finish a fifth.  We finished the fourth loop and my Garmin watch clocked us at 9.75.  We figured we should round out to an even 10, so we’d just trot a little past the cars and turn around and trot back.  Then I said, well…why don’t we just run the last quarter mile out, then we’ll walk back a quarter mile.  So it will be 10 miles of running and a quarter mile cool down.  It was settled.  We passed the cars for a fifth time and marched on the final quarter mile.  My body sprang to life with renewed energy and our pace increased once again.  At the 10 mile mark, we stopped.  It was over, and we high-fived to acknowledge a good run.  But I couldn’t help but wonder, what would have happened if he didn’t stop at the 10 mile mark?  What would my response have been if he said, “One more?”  I didn’t have to speculate.  And I’m pretty certain that despite our drained legs, if I had offered “one more” to Ronnie, I know what his response would have been.  This is the benefit of running with a friend.  But for the wellbeing of our legs, we better not start our runs in the morning.

The Worst 3 Minutes

12/13/10: I live at the bottom of a vomit-inducing hill.  It sucks, I’m not going to sugarcoat it.  There are times I avoid running because I can’t bear the thought of climbing that beast.  Sometimes I drive 20 minutes to the gym and run on the treadmill, because I’d rather waste 40 minutes of travel time than climb that beast.  Or worse, not run at all.  Now, the reality is, it takes me three minutes to ascend the beast.  Three minutes.  Three.  Minutes.  Why can’t I suck it up and run in agony for three minutes?  Well, it’s a mind game I play with myself.  If I can get through these three minutes, they will be the worst three minutes of my day, and everything after that is cake. 

                After cajoling, bargaining, and negotiating with myself, I suited up and headed out on the Mendon six mile loop, a favorite of mine (excluding the Beast).  30 seconds into my run, an orange Highway Department truck came barreling down the hill, most likely hunting for potholes.  I picked up the pace so I would look impressive, charging up the mountain, and not the pitiful pile of agony that I felt.  When I felt the truck was out of range, I backed down to the 10:30 minute/mile pace and continued on.  Then, a minute later, I hear the truck coming back up behind me.   I’m approaching the 2 minute mark, the climax of agony on the Beast, and I curse.  Then, I pick up the pace and put on a good “What hill? Oh this? No problemo, this is a bump” stride.   Once the orange truck is out of sight, I realize I’m at the top of the beast and the run gets easier.  I guess I can thank the truck driver for helping distract me during the climb.

                After the Beast, I settled into my stride, and ate some easy miles.  A few miles and several streets later, the orange truck is coming towards me.  Well this is odd, is this dude following me or something?  And PS – there are potholes everywhere!  Just ask, I can point them out for you!!  I chuckled and continued on. 

                I notice things on the side of the road.  Trash, mostly.  I hate litterers.  I think a litterer should receive the same fate as his trash and get tossed out the window going 50mph.    And why, on earth, do I see so many tooth floss/picks?  Is that common to drive, floss, and toss? Now I applaud their commitment to dental hygiene, but really, dispose of your plaque-covered tooth picks properly.

                One street and another mile later, I see… you guessed it… the orange truck coming towards me.  Then I got to thinking… I wonder what HE’S thinking.  That lady sure runs a lot.  That lady sure runs slow, I passed her forever ago.  Look at that silly lady running in the rain, in winter.  What an idiot.  I decided I’m better off not knowing what that guy was thinking, and continued on.

                I passed Pedlar and Skip, the two Tennessee Walking horses that live in a giant field.  I said hi.  I also passed Brown Dog.  I don’t know Brown Dog’s name but he’s the cutest darn lab in the world and sits in the driveway.  Never chases me, never barks.  What self-respecting chocolate lab doesn’t get excited to see a runner?  

                The last two miles of my run were simple, all downhill.  As I approached the Beast and prepared for the steep descent to my driveway, I thought about how good I felt, and how happy I was that I had gone for my run.  I thought about those first three minutes.  “The worst three minutes” of my day.  And I realized; those aren’t the worst three minutes.  Those three minutes are the catalyst to the best 50 minutes of my day.