10.12.08

Official time is

19:01.59 !!! holy moly I didn't realize I was so close to breaking 19. I was second in my age group too! The bad part is the guy who beat me at the finish by one second was in my age group. Man I would have been first...well as far as age groups go. I ended up fifth overall. There were 11,000 runners. Yeah I'm not sure how that happened, but I don't care it's awesome!

So I'm pretty psyched about it. I was thinking about the race and I really wish I could have kicked that final stretch. My quads are sore today, but not bad or anything, a comfortable good sore. I didn't realize HOW close I was to 19. I'll never underestimate myself or count a guy out again. I had a lot of fun though. After the race we got chic-fil-a coupons and snickers marathon bars. I was going to go to work so I could get some overtime, but I decided to instead take the day off and get ready for our trip to Ohio.

We left around 8:30 this morning. It was a nice drive other than dodging a plastic tricycle that was placed directly in the middle of my lane in the center of the innerstate. Yeah, not so fun. Plus other people thought I was a crazy driver since it was so small they probably didn't see what I was dodging. We stopped at wendy's and I was actually surprised by how good their chicken sandwich is. We got in around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was good to see all the leaves changing and get to see my family again. We talked for a while and before I knew it I was totally Craving a run. So I said well it's time for a run. I do believe there was a "you don't HAVE to", to which April (of all people) replied "yes he does". That's my girl!

So then I looked up that I friggin' placed in the top 5 in that race yesterday. Holy cow that amazed me beyond belief. My mom was like out of 11,000! I told her probably all the good runners didn't show. So I went for my run, with sore quads. They weren't too bad though. It was more of a workout than a race yesterday when I think about it. I had another gear left that I saved on that last stretch. But that race is over, time to prepare for the next one.

So I went out today with the goal of exploration. And that I did. I went out away from my usual course and just explored the wide open lonely country roads. Things were going really well. My legs felt great and the soreness wasn't a factor. By a half hour I was feeling really good and the sun was starting to get lower. On the other side of the horizon the moon was hanging low above the houses. I ran by a family who were having a get together in their yard. Then I hear "CLYDE!!!' over Coldplay's tunes on my ipod. I look down and I see him running right behind me. He was a big dog. Brown, fluffy, some sort of golden retriever mix. Big paws. I know this because I immediately stopped. He was friendly, but like a big huge puppy friendly. He jumped all over me. A nice woman came out to get Clydesdale and apologized. I couldn't blame her too much though. I doubt these people see anyone this far out in the country. She was very sweet and said "Sorry for interrupting your run" I graciously accepted it and returned to my enjoyment.

On around the winding roads. I was running by mostly cornfields, and now I smelled a rather unpleasant fume. Someone must have been spreading manure or silage. Either way it was a little hard to breath and certainly not pleasant. So I turn the bend. I was glad because I had never really taken this road and If I had to turn around I would have to go all the way back. But fortunately this road connected back to where I started, sort of making a huge D shape. Then I heard a growl. A white dog who didn't necessarily look too intimidating was sitting by a tree. I didn't see him until i was almost past it. Then his two friends, a boxer and a smaller dog, joined in. They were following me and of course I had already halted to a slow walk as soon I heard the growl. That's the difference with dogs, you have to assess the situation quickly, and react appropriately to avoid bad things. Then they quit growling and starting just barking, still following me. I was nearly past the house. If i made it past I knew they would leave me alone as I would be out of their territory. But they were getting real close, and I didn't want my ankle nipped. So I turned my head and looked at them, and they sort of jumped back a little. I knew at that point they weren't wanting to hurt and were just protecting the territory. I was plenty by the house, looked behind again to make sure they had slowed, which they did, then I started jogging and then running again.

So I just got a nice walk- break, not needed, especially now that the sun was now hidden behind the houses and trees in the horizon, but still pretty light out. I went up to the next house and saw another dog. I think it was some sort of jack russell, but a medium sized dog nonetheless. This one was fast, barking, and running to the road to meet me. I decided I didn't have time for this crap and just outran the thing. He didn't have a chance and I was already past the house before he made it to the road. As with most dogs if you make it out their territory you're good to go, but there are a few who are killers and sometimes even that doesn't work. This wasn't one of them. I think he was too lazy to chase me anyway. I wasn't really sprinting, actually I wasn't even at 5k pace....which is 6:08 right now, haha.

So I finally made it home, but decided to run a little extra. My right toe, well under my right toe started to hurt a bit, so I ran on the grass around my house and the grass along the road. It was nice and the toe quit hurting almost immediately. It was a really good run, especially because I wasn't sure if I'd even get an hour in.

6pm. kerr road loop OH. 80-75 degrees? started warm, ended cool.
1:21:34, gf 279