What a great run!

Date: 10/18/10
Time: 9:00 p.m.

What a great run! It had it all! Cool weather, rain, a philosophical discussion with myself, my dog Buster (who cut the course!!!) and somewhere along the way, a skunk. I am so happy I went out. I put on my HRM and socks and sat around waiting for supper to settle, knowing if I just sat, I'd talk myself out of it. (the run) Let's face it, while putting my socks on, while stretching, pretty much for quite some time, I was questioning my desire to go. Last year sometime, I bought what I thought was cold weather running gear. Long sleeve skin tight tech stuff. It is not warm, at all. Heck, on my body it is see through. Anyway, wore that and was cold for parts of this run. I started out slow - noticed I was going at a 9:22 pace but I didn't care. My goal for this run was to run - no walking - no quitting early or anything like that. Just run.

In the first 500 yards I was seeing what appeared to be itty bitty rain drops. That started the philosophy discussion. Was God testing my reserve? He wants to see if I will HTFU and go on. Wait...he wouldn't say that. Well, He did create that word, didn't He? Doesn't mean He'd use it though...I believe evil exists, and the only reason evil exists is because of an absence of God, because that is why there is darkness, it is the absence of light...and wait...this is getting to heavy for a late night run...back to dodging puddles (and the “rain” quit anyway - for a bit).

I was pretty chilled for the first mile or so, and I finished that mile in 9:19. Not bad. I'm not pushing myself anyway, but lets run this second one faster. Second mile has the overpass in it, so it's a challenge that I'm up for. Climb to the top of the pass - and - wait - what's that smell? Hmph. light skunk scent. Wonder if one got hit on the interstate or what? Thank goodness this is an out and back route and I'll get another chance to smell it! Then it started raining. Not hard, but it was a cold rain. Almost started the discussion again, but I kept going. Hit the 2 mile mark, (haven’t seen Buster in a while…) and decided I wanted to do a little more than 4, so I kept going, found a decent place to turn around ( a t-road) and went back. After a short quarter - found Buster staring at me – eyes glowing in my headlight. I wondered how far behind me he was. Oh - the mile 2 split was 9:08. Goal accomplished.

Maybe I can make mile 3 even faster. Mile 3 will include the same pass. (The rain had long stopped. Only lasted a couple minutes) Back over the pass, and only a very brief whiff of the skunk. Mile 3 hit on the downside of the pass - and it was 9:11. Close, oh well, but I am not stopping or slowing down now! At about mile 3.3 - 3.4 - there's that smell again - Oh Lord, don't tell me I got hit by it. I looked at my watch - noticed that I might be able to "save" this run- make it an ave. 9 mm pace - so I hit the gas. Wouldn't you know it -I did it! The last mile split was 8:11. Now, I know my first 3 miles were not incredibly fast - but I was pretty happy to have cut 1 minute off of my last split.
When I got home, did a small stretch - and I'll be - there was the smell again. It must have been in the grass. I hope. Went inside, my wife confirmed I did not smell of skunk. After she bent down to get some Tupperware out of the cabinet, she noticed there was a slight odor where I had been standing. She later went outside and commented that the little dog (who stayed home) smelled faintly of skunk. Who knows. I’m just happy over the run – and really happy I didn’t have to bathe in tomato juice.