Myersville Run

While most of the country has been following imaginary boys riding hot air balloons (or so it seems...what a crazy way to get attention, by the way!), I've been cocooned in my home office, alternately staring at my computer and chattering on the phone from morning till night; by Friday evening, my ears were ringing, my jaws throbbing...and the weekend came as sweet release.

It was such a bummer that my running buddy Glenn, after a near-perfect training cycle, was not able to complete the Baltimore Marathon last weekend. He had been on antibiotics and Mucinex for his allergies, and despite hydrating well before the race, he became severely dehydrated during the race and was forced to call it quits. I think it was extremely brave and smart of him to decide to stop when he did...a huge part of running well is knowing when to stop.

And in true Glenn-style, after critically analyzing his race performance, he bounced right back just days after the race by signing up for the Atlantic City marathon, 4 weeks from now. I'm so proud of you, buddy!

I have some good news to report on the running front. My injured foot behaved itself through 20 miles of running last week. But a month of non-running and just a teeny bit of cross training (is biking called 'cross-training', when you're doing only that and no running?) had taken its toll. I puffed through 14 miles this week, before Glenn suggested that we do the 11.25 mile Myersville run this morning. I was understandably hesitant. For one thing, my longest run over the past 8 weeks has been less than 6 miles. And I had found this route that Glenn put together (here is his website with a detailed description of the neighborhood and trail runs he's done) pretty challenging the last time I did it...and I was in decent shape then.

He said we could take it slow...and walk wherever we needed to. I didn't need much convincing. I just told myself that when Glenn broke into impromptu sprints mid-run (as he has a tendency of doing), I would use all my will power and resist the urge to compete. It was chilly, windy and drizzling...but we had a great time, as usual. The run started with a rather steep hill, the toughest one. There were a total of 4 hills throughout the run (Glenn calls the last hill a 'slope'...I disagree).

I was wearing my fuel belt for the second time. And the official verdict is...it sucks! I need a belt that will allow me to pull out my water bottle easier, even with gloved hands.

With this belt, the procedure is as follows:
- Remove gloves
- Struggle to remove bottle from belt
- Unsuccessfully juggle bottle, camera and gloves
- Drop camera and bottle
- Pick bottle and camera off the ground and wipe the dirt off

If my bottle were a pistol and this fuel belt was the holster, I wouldn't bet on myself in a duel!

This route covers a few really pretty neighborhoods. I had forgotten my camera last time...this time, I got pics.

The translucent blob in the middle of the rest of the pics is not mist...unfortunately, water got in my camera at this point and has imparted a sort-of ghostly look to all the pictures.

Both of us were pushing each other toward the end. There was no way I could have completed this run by myself.

Glenn finished strong. I was completely depleted. Everything south of my neck was complaining. I take that back...my head was throbbing too. Throughout the run, I had a mild headache, which became more demanding as I drove home. I could barely get home and take the much longed-for hot shower. I managed to shovel in some left-over Chinese food, before I passed out on the couch, where I remained the rest of the afternoon.

But I can't say it enough...it's GREAT to be running again!