I'm Back, Baby!

Nobody loves me; Everybody hates me. I think I'll eat some worms.

I have no idea where that childhood saying originated, nor what it really means, nor why I thought it was appropriate to put here. So... there. It's that kind of day.

After being seriously ill, I was champing at the bit (and yes, it's "champing," not "chomping" and, while it has nothing to do with today's post, I was irritated yesterday hearing "bartend" as a verb; if you work as a bartender, you "tend bar" not "bartend." The rant endeth.) to get outside and run. I awoke at 4:45 due to the rainstorm and I thought, if I got moving, I could join Matt and Bill out at Afton for their 6 AM run. Then I thought I was probably still contagious and I probably should set my own pace, so I had breakfast and packed my bad weather emergency gear in the car.

I got out to Afton around 7:30 and saw Matt's and Bill's cars, though I never saw them. I headed out in the heavy rain, thinking it'd let up - it didn't - and discovered that I was going downhill very carefully, as water running over mud and leaves made me wary. I spotted 5 deer and 3 turkeys in the rain, but there wasn't much else to see. I did the 16 mile loop in 2:42, about a minute slower than the last time, but it felt much easier and I wasn't walking the hills toward the end this time. When I hit the parking lot, there was no one around. I reloaded my water bottle and headed back out, not seriously thinking of finishing a full second loop.

I slowed a lot. I saw fiddlehead ferns (not rare, but the first I recall seeing) and a weasel; there's always something new to see out there. Finished 23 miles in 4:05, my quads screaming at me... I have some work to do before the Superior 25K!

Added: Sunday, my quads were completely fried, so the illness did take away some strength.