So I was running with the team again this past Saturday. It was 10 miles this time. Double digits!! OMG! Just like before the 9 miler I was nervous as anything! I’ve never done 10 miles before. What makes me think I can do 10 miles??? But of course, that’s what you train for all week. Of course we were ready!
So my running buddy Cindy and I were waiting to take off and I did the usual ‘systems check’. Nike+ Non-functioning since the last iPhone OS upgrade. Oh well, I have my Garmin right? Nope! It wouldn’t turn on for some reason
So I call my tech savvy husband and I catch him while he is in the middle of his own run. He breathlessly gives me a few tips to try. None of which work.
Damn! I haven’t ran gadget free before. Not a big deal since the TNT coaches plotted the route. So I didn’t have to watch the distance to ensure we did 10. But the Garmin beeps to let us know when our running intervals start and stop. Luckily my iPhone has a stop watch and timer. So I set the time for 9 minutes and the stop watch for a minute. So that allowed us to keep track of the intervals. But how are we going to watch our pace? The old fashion talk test? Gosh! How archaic and untechnical!
I was annoyed and turned to one of the team mentors and said, “I can’t believe BOTH of my trackers are down! Can you believe that?! What are the chances??”
She grinned, grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently then said, “But you can still run!”
Yes I can. And I did.
It was hilly as I expected. But we did good. It’s funny how the miles peel away when you have a good running partner. Except, we were fooled a few times.
First we saw Pete our SAG guy. Usually, he’s near the turn around point. But this time he was just at mile 2! Then we saw Coach April and I thought she was at the turn around. But we found she was at the turn around for the half marathon runners. Cindy and I still had a long way to go.
But it was cool. We ran out through the AG pastures for the college and saw cute little cows. Then we ran across a local senior out on his daily run. He has been running in the area for over 25 years. So he knew the best routes out there. Lucky for us because we got turned around and had to ask him for directions.
On our way back from the turn around point, we saw a gorgeous wood owl in a tree. He was magnificent!
When we were back on the college campus we saw a bus doing its rounds. It passed us a few times as we ran through. We were the only ones out there. It was still early in the morning and summer. Not many students out.
At one point we had to stop and check out the route map. I didn’t mind because it was toward the top of a big hill that was kicking my butt! I appreciated the break!
As we were standing there huddled over our maps and me sucking air like I’m on top of Everest, the bus came down the hill and pulled along side us. The driver opened the door and I thought he was going to try to get us to skip the rest of the run and take a bus ride in!
I looked over and started to wave him off. But he said, “Hey Ladies, you go straight up this hill, turn left, go down that hill and your team truck is waiting for you there.”
“Thanks!!”
He was exactly right! Pete was waiting for us right where the driver said he’d be. I was going to take us up the wrong street! Cindy was right about how she thought we were supposed to go. So as we were running down the hill toward Pete I told Cindy:
“That’s it. I’m gadget girl. I’ll tell us when to run and walk. You’re now the navigator. You tell us where to go.” :)
We had more hills all the way back into the park. But we cleared them and we cleared them in style! 10 miles. No problem!
