It's cold out today. 41 when I started with wind chills in the 30's. Either I really want to do this or I just wanted to be able to tell you all that I did it and that requires actually doing it.
I put my running clothes on straight out of bed to encourage an early outing. I waited for the sun to come up but I did not wait too much past that as the forecast is for the wind to get stronger and the chill to get chillier as the day wears on.
Last night I plotted my course. Since I'm not wearing any timing devices I also have to know my distances in advance if I'm not on a marked trail. I'm not a fan of out and back. The route I picked ended up being a partial out and back but finished at Wawa where I could pick up a coffee and walk back to the house. And 3/4 of the run was in one direction. Or so I thought. As I began to run, I started to review the distance in my head. It's 1 mile from my front steps to Wawa. All I needed was a half mile past the Wawa .... and then I realized I must have gotten half a mile stuck in my head and goofed. I had only planned a quarter mile past Wawa. If I turned around then I would only have 1.5 miles not 2. Now what?
- I could just do the 1.5. it IS more than 1 after all. But it was not the plan and failing on the plan is devastating to folks like me. (You know who you are, you recognize the symptoms).
- I could guess how far another quarter mile is if I pay close attention to the feel of the first quarter mile. But if I don't guess right, I'm either still going to be short or unnecessarily disappointed the 2 miles felt awful if I go too far. (If you are still reading stop rolling your eyes at that. You are still reading after all and unless this if your first visit to my blog you should be expecting this).
- I could do the quarter mile section out and back TWICE. "I am not a fan of out and back" (she said earlier).
The first 1/4 mile is a slow very gradual downhill. Most people, especially those in a car, would not notice it. I can do this. And when I come around the second time it will be the final time. At the street sign poll for the turn around street I tried to touch the poll (because it's the rule at turn-arounds) but there is a waist high hedge in the way and I couldn't reach it. I air high-fived it instead.
The second 1/4 mile is a slow and not so gradual uphill. Yeah I know it's the same path I just ran but trust me it's bigger on the upside. Especially when you think about the fact that your brain cramp the night before is causing you to have to do it twice. And you haven't done any serious running in 5 years. I started wishing the traffic light where I would have to cross over to the other side of the street would be RED. At this point my brain jumped to something happening at work. My brain does that a lot. Left turn without signalling. I won't bore you with the details of the problem. Suffice it to say I solved it. 👍 But the traffic light was green WITH a walk sign. 😏
Ok. "Down" again on the other side. Relax and let gravity to it's thing. Hmmm before I knew it I was at the street sign pole that I could not reach. I air high-fived it again because consistency is critical. And now it's off to the final quarter mile. I'm feeling better than I thought I would at this point but still physically aware that this is the end of the longest run I've done in a very long time. Time to remind myself that the final quarter mile of the OCNJ Half will be flat as a pancake. You can do this. Then I saw the Rita's Water Ice sign which means I'm done "climbing" and could coast into the finish.
If you are still with me, thank you. I kinda wonder WHY...but thank you because "I just wanted to be able to tell you all that I did it."
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving
-Paula
