Every runner has felt the "runner's high". The overwhelming and powerful feeling that you can run forever. It might be just one mile during a 10 mile run. It might be an entire 5K, or it might be an entire half-marathon. Whenever and however it comes, it is great! You feel as if you are effortlessly floating across the ground, barely making contact. This is what every runner dreams of. I imagine this is what most elite runners feel like, although, if I had to guess, they probably don't either. This actually describes most of my 9 mile run earlier in the week. I felt great. I felt strong. I felt I could run forever. Fast-forward to this morning (Saturday). I was attempting to ride this high for awhile and said, "I'll go for a long run on Saturday". I shouldn't have said that.
Friday night came and I surreptitiously (yes, I didn't want my brain knowing what my hands were doing) set my alarm for 3:15 AM. So 3:15 came and went and I rolled out of bed at 3:25. Still ok. I was out the door and running by 3:45. It was actually a great morning, cool (75, haha, Vegas cool), light breeze, minimal traffic. I felt as if I was alone in Vegas. It was nice. Until the homeless chick sleeping in the middle of the jogging path scared the crap out of me. Anyway...
I set off and life was good. I felt pretty good. Around mile 10 I started struggling a little. Around mile 13 something crossed my mind that has never crossed my mind during a run: I wanted to call my wife to come get me. I hobbled through the next 2 miles, stopped at a gas station to get some water, and literally walked the last mile home. I felt like crap. I felt like I had just been run over by a truck, then tied to the bumper and dragged home. It was not a good feeling. This was, literally, my worst running experience to date. It made me question things I have always known to be true: Is Santa Claus really real? Will my finger get stuck in my nose if I pick my nose too much? Do the Haribo sugar-free gummy bears really tear you up inside as much as the reviews on Amazon.com say? (Seriously, follow this link and read some of the reviews. Some of the funniest things I have ever read). Can I really run a full marathon? 26.2 miles? Me? I don't know. All I know is that today was a horrible run.
I assume that most people have bad runs. I hope this was just an isolated incident and things will get better. I guess I'll try again and see how it goes.
On the bright side, I did get some pretty good pictures from some earlier runs this week and last week. Check them out.
During my 11 mile run I ran to the top of this little mountain. It is in the Exploration Park in Mountain's Edge (yeah, I THOUGHT it would be fun). I was able to get a couple pictures from the top.
See that guy in the red circle with the big red arrow pointing at him? Yup, that's a giant coyote (at least he looked giant to me. He really was quite large). He ran out about 25 feet in front of me. I snapped a quick mugshot before he could run back into the desert.
Despite my horrible run and shortcomings, there are definitely things to be grateful for. I can run. I am healthy. And my family is healthy. What more could I ask for?
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