For Auntie Sandy

Today's run was for my dear Auntie Sandy! It was designed for her for three reasons:

1. She donated. If you do it too, you get a run.
2. As she is a lover of the great outdoors, I left the city streets and headed into the Ridge.
3. Because she's trapped in the frozen north, this was a special run in the heat of the emerging Delhi summer. Maybe some of the heat will make its way to the Northland.

As you can see it's getting warm here in Delhi. It seems to be a bit late this year, which is nice. Knowing that I have over 2 months of training left before I head to Minnesota isn't as nice. Obviously, running in the heat isn't ideal; that's why I usually run at 6am.

However, a 6am run wasn't in my stars this morning. The boy is getting very close to being able to sleep through the night and the past several nights have been great nights of sleep for all of us. Last night was a struggle, with a good chunk of awake time from 4-5:20am. That meant 20 minutes of sleep and a run, or an hour and a half of sleep and sanity. I opted for sanity.

I was able to shift my run to the afternoon, so I headed out for the Ridge 5 Miler. I've written about the Ridge before on this blog. See my first Ridge post here. Today's run was not nearly as dramatic as that one. Thankfully.

As I entered the Ridge today, I was overcome with that distinct scent that can only be a dead animal. I couldn't see it, but it couldn't have been far. The next sight was a huge macaque. They can be terrifying and unpredictable. The road into the Ridge is usually covered with them and so far they haven't attacked me, but I hate running past them.

After passing the gauntlet, the next sight is a small Sufi temple. From there, it's off the road and into the woods. I was hoping to see something really cool to write about, but there was nothing too crazy. A giant cow, a few creepy dudes and a bunch of peacocks. Rumor has it that the largest Asian antelope, the Nilgai has been seen in the Ridge. I would love to see it.

The run was tough. It was hot, fast and my legs were dead. But, it's five more miles done! To date in 2014, I've run over 220 miles, so I'll well on pace to reach my goal of 800 miles this year.

This run belongs to Sandy! Thanks for helping out!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of my friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:
Distance - 4.98 miles
Time - 37:09 (my fastest time on this route!)
Soundtrack - Hip Hop Shuffle. Some real gems including Microphone Fiend by Erick B and Rakim and Rockin' It by the Fearless Four!