Nice Run, But Longer than Planned

I ran this evening after work. I couldn't run on trails today. With temperatures up near 50, the deep snow on the trails was very wet and soft. I parked at the elementary school in Lyman and did the old work-clothes-to-running-clothes-change-in-the-front-seat-routine (always an awkward process). I checked the Delormes and found a nice eight mile loop to run. I wrote the names of the roads for my turns on the palm of my hand and set out.

The first two turns went like clockwork. When I started looking for my third turn I became uncertain. The map made it look like a main road, but there were only tiny little back roads out there and most of the road signs were missing, there were just naked posts at the ends of the roads. I kept running much farther than I should have. I had expected to be back at my car before dark, but the sun was going down fast and I wasn't where I thought I'd be. I was going to knock on a door and ask directions, but then I saw a man walking on the other side of the road. I stopped him and asked where the elementary school was. It turns out I had missed my turn about three miles back. He suggested I continue the way I was going and gave me directions back to the school using an alternate route. As I left him he called out, "You have a long way to go, young lady!" I liked the "young lady" part.

I wasn't worried. My legs felt good, the temperature was comfortable, and I didn't have anywhere I needed to be. Might as well be out running. This was supposed to be a hill workout and there were plenty of hills on this loop. I ran fast and hard on all the uphills throughout the whole run. It started raining and got very dark before I finished. I didn't have enough reflective gear on so I moved way over onto the shoulder every time I saw a car coming. Luckily, the roads all seemed to have wide firm shoulders that were nice for running. I ran for 1:47:31 and it looks like it was at least 12.5 miles.

This is turning into a nice high mileage training week. It is a good test to see how my body will hold up. Most of my running has been on the hard roads this week and still, my feet and ankles are pain free!