Goal weight: 195 lbs.
Today’s weight: 202 lbs.
I didn’t really set out to go anywhere this morning. I didn’t have my route planned. I certainly did not set my alarm clock. I just woke up, stretched, got dressed, put on my GPS watch and headed out the door. All I knew was that I wanted to run more than an hour. I woke up knowing today was long run day. That’s it. I’ve been planning all week. I just wanted to go run.
And run I did.
My street has the steepest hill in the neighborhood. So I started up it and headed into the next neighborhood. It has a lake and a dam and I ran past it. I then cut through the woods along a wooded path and picked up the Natchez Trace. From there I got on the Ridgeland Multipurpose Trail. On it, I ran into lots of friends and other runners. I’m sure it was either Fleet Feet’s running group or it could have been Marathon Makeover. Whatever the case, it was good to have company. I bumped into my friends Joe Lee (a great writer) and Annie Oath (a longtime coworker) who were running and I joined them for a couple of miles. That made the time go faster. Something was blooming, so the lush, green vegetation along the trail smelled like the finest of perfumes. I plowed up and down the hills and checked my heart rate. 150. Right where I wanted it. I said goodbye to my friends and continued on. Soon, I crossed Old Canton Road and got a quick drink of water. That was my turnaround point — 4.5 miles.
Going back is harder. You aren’t exploring at that point and you know what hills you face. I wasn’t running very fast — but then again, I wasn’t trying to. I was doing about 6 mph. I kept a smile on my face as I plowed up and down the hills. I enjoyed some music and kept knocking out the miles. Soon I was back in the woods, down by the lake and then in my own neighborhood again. My watch chimed — nine miles. I turned off my watch and walked up the steps into my house. I had just burned 1,432 calories.
I’m back. I’m not far from being able to run a half-marathon again. And that makes me very happy. Four months of training have taken me from being a walking heart attack waiting to happen to a guy who’s able to knock out nine miles on a beautiful spring morning.
Yesterday, I drove 384 miles, gave an hour speech, did three hours of live radio, show prepped and lived to tell about it. All that and my run today are linked.
When I got home and into the shower, I was grateful I could give thanks for this day by having a great run. Thanks be to God.