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!

Hey It’s Good To Be Back Home Again

The Ridge run was my last Delhi run for the year. Wednesday and Thursday just weren’t happening. Friday and Saturday were travel days, and Sunday was a relaxing day back at the lake. Monday, though and it’s back to the grind or I’ll never be in shape. This run is for the generous gifts of Kate’s class, my retired (now!) principal Barb Sirotin, Sue & Buzz and an anonymous gift from a coffee date. Thank you all for your generosity. I’ve passed my original fundraising goal thanks to you all and now I’ve got my eyes set on even greater heights! Please donate if you can!

It’s summer once again, and that means it’s back to life at the lake. The thing about being at the lake, is that all routines are tossed out the window. It’s tough to wake up and go for a run first thing in the morning. First of all, it’s cold. I mean really cold. Almost half the temperature of New Delhi. Secondly, it’s easy to sleep in. Or wake up early and make some coffee. Then some relaxing with the family, then breakfast. After breakfast, it’s hard to run, so there’s more resting and before you know it, it’s time for lunch. This pattern repeats all day. The jet lag doesn’t help. Knowing my downfall was eminent, I managed to scrape myself off of the sofa and away from my first book of summer and dress for running. Waiting on the counter was a gift from last year’s fundraising recipient, the American Cancer Society. A new pair of running shorts and socks! Thanks ACS. Dressed in my new gear, I headed out the door and down the dirt road for a five mile out and back. I felt terrible, with lunch still in my belly. The first thing I noticed of course was the air. How crisp and cool it is here in Minnesota. It’s such a drastic difference from Delhi. Last year I came home and took something like 3 minutes off of my normal times. Would this happen again this year? As I was thinking about the difference in the air, I noticed it was full of the white fluff of dandelion seeds taking flight. Quite a difference from the asbestos fluff and carcinogenic fine particle PM2.5 in the air on the other side of the world. Although my head was happy, my lungs were not. They seemed to be working overtime to get rid of the mess from Delhi and replace it with the intoxicating Murphy Lake air. The run was hard and my lunch kept reminding me it was still there.
 Finally, a reprieve. About 2 miles in to my 5, the next-door neighbor pulled up alongside me to say hello. “Good to have you back,” he said. “Good to be back,” I replied. Then, it was condolences and eagerness to meet Arlo and suddenly, without warning, the feelings I talked about in the last post surfaced. It won’t be easy, but I’d rather have it not be easy and be home than be anywhere else in the world. Because the real thing about the lake, is that it’s home. It’s where my family and I are going to build our future. It’s where we come to recharge. If a run gets skipped, it’s okay. That’s life at the lake. 

Coincidentally, in my ear, the last album on my iPod. I never got around to changing out the John Denver tribute from my last run. The song? “Back Home Again” by Old Crow Medicine Show. Indeed.

RUN STATS
Distance - 5 Miles
Time - 42:24
Soundtrack - Various Artists, The Music is You: A Tribute to John Denver