Day 3210 —a Muddy Challenge! —

When I arrived at the parking lot, it was full, so I parked on the side of the road like everyone else. Unfortunately, I ran over a rotten log that got stuck under the front of my car. I struggled for 10 minutes trying to reattach my bumper, but a guy who pulled in behind me helped me maneuver my car and free it. When I saw my bumper getting ripped off, I laughed instead of feeling frustrated and managed to get it fixed.

Joel, whom I invited, was already there, and we set up by a fallen tree. I planned to run some of the race with him, but I took longer to get out of the weeds of other runners. It took me the entire first lap to take the lead, but the next two laps were easier to maintain. By the fifth lap, the sun was setting, and I was getting tired. I met another guy who turned out to be a high school English teacher and we talked about books and races. I think he won the race, unless he slowed down.

At the end of the fifth lap, I ran into Joel again. I was a lap ahead of him, and we decided to run some together. Joel was worried about the run, but he kept going. He never really complained, even when it was tough. His goal was eight laps, so we focused on doing four more. I did nine, and he did eight. I could have done one or two more laps, but it was fun just taking it easy and talking to Joel about his running experiences without feeling any pressure to push myself.

I love doing races, but I don't love feeling like I need to push myself to exhaustion each time. The key to longevity in running is to vary your intensity. My main race that I want to crush this year is the Shawnee Hill. I am coming for you Shawnee Hill! 

If you’re curious why read about my Shawnnee Hill experience last year or would like to watch the race video, I made for this run go to http://virtuesruns.blogspot.com/