Major Regrets

I went to Bradbury Saturday to run far. Ian, Emma, Jeremy, Mike, and two others I don't know were there to run also. I knew they would be going at a faster pace than I wanted so just visited while getting ready and then said good-bye to them. Jeremy thought he might find me later to get in more miles.

I decided I would start with the Bruiser-without-the-twists course that gets me just under 8 miles, refuel, and go from there. The heavy rain from the day and night before had left Bradbury with lots of puddles and mud. I wore shorts and a long sleeved tech shirt. For most of the run I wished I had gloves; besides being cool, it was very windy.

Here's the major regrets...It was so beautiful running, I wish I'd been an English or Art major in order to be able to describe the scenery. In places the reds and golds carpeted my path with an amazingly intricate tapestry. Just when that almost became simply normal, I'd be in different types of trees and the ground would be all red or perhaps a shiny bronze. A lot of times when I run, I miss out on the beauty of the environment because I'm just looking down at the trail. This time, that's where it was beautiful!

I felt good after the first lap. Back at the car, I replaced the one 8 oz Gatorade bottle I was carrying and downed the rest of my coffee that I hadn't finished on the drive over. The Garmin said 7.8 miles. I liked that lap so well, I decided to run it again.

This time, I was surprised to find more trees and debris down; they'd fallen while I was out there! Luckily, the only thing to come close to me was an acorn. Unluckily, I discovered I had a snippet from Neil Young's "Pocahontas" running through my head... "Marlon Brando, Pocahontas, and me". That was it. No more of the song. AND no matter what I tried I couldn't get it out. I tried singing other songs out loud, but, as soon as I stopped..."Marlon Brando, Pocahontas, and me" would be there. UGH! I like the song, but not just phrase.

Back to the parking lot, I was feeling pretty strong, but still regretted not having the gloves. I decided to stay on the mountain side for the last miles. I figured the new terrain would be a good way to stay focused. Plus it would be nice to see other people, perhaps displacing Pocahontas.

I was happy to find my legs still had the life to handle the Boundary trail. It was on the Boundary that I finally got soaked. There were a couple large puddles where I was in past my knees. I didn't worry about getting too cold, knowing I didn't have very many miles to go. One really nice thing was that no 0ne had been through before me so the bottoms of the puddles were totally visible so I knew the footing. After a brief pause to look off the summit, I headed to the Tote Road, Northern Loop, down the Terrace toward the parking lot. When I realized I was a tad short on mileage, I started up the Switch Back Trail. I guessed how far up I needed to go and then ran back down. The 19.89 was good enough for me!

Today I ran a short recovery run in very, very soggy fields. The parts all seemed fine.

Oh! Congratulations to Jamie on his BQ effort at the MDI Marathon today!!! Can't wait to read his account : )