Man vs. Wild

Okay, so this past summer I am out on my favorite run. My Griffy Lake out and back 10 miler. It has everything. Running out 46 gives me a variety of experiences. I get the usual comments from drivers about how short my shorts are or how skinny i am. Sometimes on very special days i hear questions about my sexual preferences or i am told to go home and put on some clothes. It is heart-warming to know that so many people care about my well-being to let me know their thoughts and concerns without me even asking. After all I don't want to catch cold or get badly sunburned. I also do get some beeps of the horn or thumbs up which usually results in me picking up the pace and even trying to keep up with those who are encouraging me. Soon I realize that 45 mph is not possible even with the speedwork on the track. I also love running to the lake, especially when it has water. If it is snowing all the better. It is so beautiful to run to Griffy during a snowstorm. Of course coming back up Griffy hill is tough. But after doing that every week other hills seem like bumps. I need that! There are also other runners and cyclists too on this route which is always fun and encouraging. The last two miles is mostly downhill and I can let it fly. These two plus miles when I am tired is good for me. Maybe if I did more of that I would be stronger at the end of races? So I am on this run this past summer minding my own business, nearing mile 6.5 when I see an animal up ahead in the road. I think nothing of it and keep running, getting closer. I assume this thing will scamper into the bushes and cause me no worry but as I get about 20 feet away this groundhog does an about-face and stares at me. I quickly notice it's mouth is open and I can see teeth. I think to myself, why is this thing showing me teeth and standing it's ground in the road. I want to go around but I am not sure what a groundhog is capable of. I must have missed that episode on Animal Planet. So if it is a bear make yourself big and noisy? That is all I could think of. Where is a bear when you need one? But this as a football with teeth and fur. What do I do? I could maybe punt the thing but what if I miss and it bites my foot off? So I decide instead of taking a chance on being bitten and ending up with a series of painful rabie shots, the best I could come up with is to pretend I am going the other way. I am of course counting on the fact that the groundhog is smart enough to watch me getting further away and assuming I am no threat. It worked. It disappeared in the bushes and I very quickly run past. I did look about to see if anyone is seeing this or even worse taking video to quickly post on Youtube. I have not seen or heard about it so far. Obviously were it not for my superior intellect I would not have survived to be telling this story. I still love the Griffy run but I do run a bit faster on that section of road each time. You take motivation wherever you can get it to run fast.  Oh I ran the Towpath half this past weekend and I do have a funny story that goes with that and I will write about that later.

An Interesting Day

Yesterday was an interesting day. Two races on the schedule, three counting Octoberfest in Seymour. The night before I had struggled to decide what I should do. The Towpath half being a week away I was not sure I should race at all(ha ha). Once you stop laughing please read on... Got up early Saturday morning, got the gear on and drove to Bloomfield. Of course got there, weather great, got in line to register out of habit i guess. I had a flashback of winning this race last year and the door prizes were cool so why not? At the start line looked around, Tim was there along with two other guys who looked fast. Okay maybe this was not a good idea, maybe first place was not going to happen. But off we went. Start was downhill. I expected pace to be fast. I was 5:08 at mile last year. But 200 meters into the race I am watching 3 guys pulling away! Tim looks at his damn GPS and says we are slow at 5:40 pace. I have learned to ignore this by now. Tim catches them before the first turn, which by the way the cop car did not take. Instead car takes a right and goes wrong way. Luckily we knew the course and went the right way. Before first mile Tim and I together, some college guy Andrew too far ahead. Young kid volunteer yells out 4:56 which really pumped me up. Knew it was fast but that was unexpected. Don't get too excited, he was calling out mile split before the mile marker? We were actually 5:06. But then the hill, back down and the incline to the finish. Second place with a decent time. Then the standing in the rain for at least an hour! Door prizes galore. I had my eye on some apple crumb cake or maybe some apple cider. I got nothing. I am starting to think there is a conspiracy and my name is never included. I  will find out. Finally little after noon we head to get food, then down to Springville to maybe do a 10k. Super nice race director, long sleeve shirts and some of the usual Mag 7er's. I know I really should not have ran but my plan was to do the first 5k easy and then the last 5k as a tempo run. But then the horn sounds and something happened. The same something that happens instinctively I think at each race, and sometimes during "easy days." My legs were heavy and tired but first mile was 5:45. I can run this 10k at 6:00 pace and be okay the next day I thought. At the turnaround Justin is flying. I thought, "he's trying to catch me!" Shortly after I had to jump to the grass to avoid the wonderful car who would not move over. Thanks for keeping me alert jerk! At each mile I was under 6:00 pace so I put it on cruise control and finished. 10 points for Mag 7 series. Another win for team INRunCo. 16 plus miles for the day. Most ever in one day. Fast forward to now. My heel and achilles swollen again, hurts to walk. Oh well I am an idiot. One week to rest, get the swelling down and do this half, which I know I can do at 6:00 pace or better. We will see. By the way, soon I will tell the story of my altercation with a groundhog on a training run  this summer. You won't believe it.