For Matt and Skye!

Fellow Minnesotans Matt and Skye get this dedicated run! Thanks for helping out yet again, guys. I'm beyond happy that you're helping kids get the chance to attend summer camp in Minnesota. Even though you have a place in "the Cities" you understand the importance of the Northwoods to children's overall well-being. You're awesome, thanks for your generosity.

If you're reading this, and you're also awesome and you want to help too, click this link to donate to the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship fund.

This dedicated run is the first one back on US soil! I live on a dead-end dirt road, so the runs aren't often interesting. No monkeys, no traffic, no pollution...hey, actually, they aren't that bad!

This one (like all the rest on the Murphy Lake Road) is an out and back. Today the turnaround point was at 2.5 miles, making the run a 5 miler.

The run started out innocently enough. The first two miles were great! 7:11 and 7:10. It was great being home in the fresh air. Taking a look to my  left, I was greeted with a wonderful lake view.

Mile 3 - still feeling good. I hit the turnaround, started feeling a little sluggish, but still finished the mile in 7:31. Totally respectable. In fact, I was on pace for a top three finish time on this route.

When mile four kicked in, I started feeling not so great. Was it the jet lag? The tummy troubles? The lack of consistency lately in my training program? Was I making too many excuses? In any case, I was slowing down. This mile was 7:48.

Then in mile 5, it finally happened. One of the two inevitable things that happen to all runners. During your running career, you will 1) fall and 2) face the Runner X dilemma.

Faced with the Runner X dilemma, I didn't know what to do. I live in the woods. There's not a good place to stop - for example, no hospital if you clicked on the last link. What to do? I was faced with the age old conundrum, stop and deal with it or keep going. I chose to keep going. I chose to believe that I could somehow overcome the inevitable. But I slowed down. My last mile was 8:21. My house was in reach. Was I going to make it?

I still had to turn into the driveway and then make a decision. At that point, the inevitable was happening. I knew only one thing. I did not want the inevitable to happen in my running shorts. So, the decisions - into the house with the sleeping baby, barking dog and into the bathroom? Into the outhouse that hadn't yet been cleaned out for the summer? Into the woods with the man-eating mosquitos?

I panicked. I made a choice that I'm not proud of. I'm owning it by writing these words. I pooped in my yard.

This run belongs to Matt and Skye!
I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our 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!