First Twenty

I decided to break today's run up between road and fields only because of time. With the soft, wet conditions of our fields, it would take much longer to run all 20 there.

So I strapped on my road shoes, shorts, a long sleeve tech shirt, and my fuel belt with just one 7 oz Gatorade in it. Mostly I wear the fuel belt to carry my cell phone and other sundries.

The first six miles went fairly fast and all felt good. Then I had an unexpected pit bull encounter. He was very big and stopped when I stopped, but came closer every time I tried to move. I yelled at him and yelled for a person. Finally, his person came out of his house, quite a bit back from the road. It distracted him enough that I started to run. The guy then yelled for the dog, totally unaware that the dog had been out in the road. At least the dog heeded the call.

From there the road part of the run went down hill (not the kind that might be appreciated). My big toe joints became very sore. I was glad to get home to fuel up on Stinger Chews, pretzels, and Gatorade. Mostly I was glad to put my foot back into my Inov-8's. I ran about 5 more miles in the fields including the hill across the street. Very slow going, but my feet felt much better.

Refuel again just adding an energy bar to the mix. Changed my clothes and shoes again. The last 5 miles I ran in my old Inov-8's. Actually I ran 4 and headed back to the house to get Spot. I knew the pace I was now down to wouldn't be to much for her. She was so thrilled to be included in a run again that she did kind of go fast. Heading back up the driveway, I took off shoes and socks and just let my feet enjoy the feel of the cool, wet grass.

Rick was out puttering in the yard and saw me heading back. By the time Spot and I were back up, he'd put my Adirondack chair onto the steps (out of the little bit of the wind). I plopped there immediately. By the time he'd snapped this picture, I had changed into PJ's and Rick had brought beers. Nice guy!

So I ran 20 in less time than the 17.2 of last week. Of course that's cause of the 10 road miles, but I'll take it. Notice how happy I look in my wonderful chair with my well-earned beer!