Running In Place

Last night was the last summer development run of the season and, being my most-favoritist hilly 10K, I didn’t want to miss it. Having the opportunity to run this particular route during my 15K training was invaluable in increasing my physical and mental endurance and boosting my confidence tremendously. Being just a couple of days post-Boilermaker, there were only maybe a third as many attendees as usual. I noticed right away that nearly all of my usual contemporaries were missing and that the majority of runners there were the more physically conditioned one. There could be any number of reasons for that but I think that one of the more unfortunate reasons is that, because this race is such an integral part of the community experience here, alot of people train specifically for it, (hopefully) accomplish it, and then forget about a running program until next year. Or till never. Another possible reason, that didn’t become apparent to me until I began running, was the heat. 88F with 68% humidity, for a heat index of 99F! The saver was that at least half of this run takes place under shade of trees. I was in totally no rush and really didn’t care how long it took, especially since I really wanted to enjoy this last time through. I could run this route on my own at just about any time until the snow comes, whether I actually will - dunno.

So I meandered along, took in the view from the hills, and took stock of how my body felt 2 days after my longest run to date. Fine, actually. I had some soreness just above both knees on the downhills, but I was also doing alot more braking on the declines because I didn’t want to go too fast. I probably just should have let go, it might’ve been easier on my legs than trying to stay slow.

Heading into the woods, just into mile 2, the call came down the line that help was needed up the path. Fortunately, the bike EMT bringing up the rear was not too far behind me so I flagged him and pointed him up the hill. By the time I got there, he and another medic were tending to a girl who was conscious and talking. By the time I finished the wooded loop, she was walking out with them and appeared none the worse for wear. The handful of people who were behind me evidently opted out of the last hill up to the eagle

which left me to bring up the rear. As I was heading up that last hill, the last few people left ahead of me were coming down. They called out encouragement to me, which I always appreciate, but I didn’t really need it. I felt good, I was enjoying the surroundings, and just happy to be out there. As I got towards the top of the hill and the turnaround, guess what I heard?? A flippin’ bagpipe!! One sole woman, standing at the base of the Eagle, playing a bagpipe as the sun set! Could there be a better reward for reaching the top??!? By the time I got to the finish they were starting to break things down but the water was still there so I grabbed some, had an orange, and headed home - just feeling all joyful about running.

In case you haven’t read my Boilermaker cohort’s blog, she has just registered for the Adirondack Half-Marathon!! Here’s the cool part - she and I were both registering for this race, online, at just about the same time, each without the other’s knowledge! How’s that for synchronicity! Perhaps the same synchronicity that allowed us to find each other among 11,000 people at the start of the race on Sunday and finish side by side. It’s all the RBF fairies (no offense Mark, Jon, Jack, etc ) watching over us.