It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

I had six miles on the schedule for yesterday. Well, for one day this week. The schedule is kind of shot to hell because of various foot ailments, and one fun vacation. I took the day off to recuperate from my vacation and spent it doing a lot of nothing. But exhausting kinds of nothing. Cleaning, laundry, ironing—you know, the stuff I routinely ignore. For long periods of time. So I left my six-miler (my most hated distance) til latish, for me—7 p.m.

Number One Daughter came with me (wow, this is getting to be a habit!) We headed out to a different trail than our usual one, the C & O Canal, where the first three miles is slightly uphill and, guess what, after the turnaround, it's all slightly downhill. Funny how it works that way.

I was tired. I was cranky. I was in Big Bad Mood. I was hungry. I was dehydrated. I was totally convinced I would bag this run at 2 miles, because I can't run in this condition. Oh, and it was dark. Because of the rain.

NOD ran one way (opposite me, good call on her part) and I ran the other.

So you already know how this cliff-hanger ends, don't you? I know you do! Coach told me to go as slowly as I liked for five miles, and then try to break 10 minutes on my last mile.

It went like this:
11:23 hate this
11:04 just get it over with
10:52 only one mile to go; you know you can run three miles, jackass!
11:05 on my way home, praise God
10:28 OK, it's getting dark and scary
9:46 You are going to run under a 10 minute mile tonight.

AND that is the fastest mile I've ever run. Of course it was a slight downhill. But as my good pal a. maria said, when I bragged about it to her in an e-mail:

i don't care if you were on an escalator running down hill... 9:46 is 9:46. no matter which way you slice it...

Outta the mouths of babes!

9:46 is like lightning speed for me ... but I was OK at the end. Not dying! I wonder what it would be like to run that fast all the time.

But I'd have to find that escalator to find out.

(Let's skip a recap of this morning's three-miler, shall we? The running gods were merciless.)

*******

Meanwhile, I've been watching the Tour de France at every spare moment because, I dunno, it's mesmerizing. And let's face it, those guys are cute. But there are so many of them, who can keep track? Plus, I have no idea what the hell is happening. So, herewith, I share this resource with the rest of you who are clueless but captivated:
Tour de France for Dummies.

*******

In still more news, for those who don't already know, our friend Bolder "It's All About the Bike" in Boulder (even though it's really all about the run) has had a bit of a tumble. A big bad tumble. He's OK, but a bit beaten up. Go leave him some comment love!

signed,
Jeanne "9:46"