Day 9

So I looked at the weather for this week to try to schedule some bike rides and this is what I saw...

Awesome.

Today went well otherwise. I have been eating well all day and finished my water goal early. I even got my work done by 4:00! Although my morning was relatively uneventful, I had a GREAT day despite missing my wife like crazy. When I was done working, I changed into running clothes, threw on my sneakers, grabbed a water bottle, and out the door I went.

I had mapped a 4-4.5 mile run. When I left I figured that I would see how I felt when I got to a spot that I could split off. The short way was on dangerous big roads while the longer one was on back roads. When I finished mile 2, I was going to turn right onto a bigger road for about a quarter mile or so. When I got to that point, I knew I'd have to cross the busy road to be on the correct side for running. I got up to the intersection and started slowing down, looked right, and there was a dirt running path! I was pretty excited to not have to be on the busy road, so I hopped on it. I knew where the other end was, but had no idea that the road I was on intersected with it. When I got a spot to get off the path, I decided I'd stay on it and see where it went. The path took me behind the local high school and near all of their athletic fields. I wasn't sure if it would just come to a dead end or bring me back to a road I knew, but I knew the general direction I wanted to go. While on that path, there was another smaller messier path to my left, the direction I needed to go, so I took it. There were boulders and mud and sticks through the entire path with low hanging wet branches from the rain today. I LOVED IT! I felt like a kid again running through the woods to capture the flag.

When I got to the end of the path, I was standing at a fence surrounding the high school track. I ran around the fence in the grass and found my way back to a road. The rest of the run was uneventful and kind of ho-hum, but I think I was smiling the whole way home.

I mapped the run when I got home and found that it was just about 4.5 miles. I didn't time it, but I came in under an hour.

Tonight my plan is to watch the Tour of California and play some video games with a friend while I eat healthy foods and drink plenty of fluids to rehydrate after a fun but sweaty run. It's humid today! I hope my wheels don't get rusty. ;-)

WOO WOO!!!!!