5.54 Miles. 47 degrees. Cold, steady rain. Blustery winds.
5:00 AM – Woke with the alarm. First time.
Stormed all night. Tired. Didn’t sleep well. Was cold in the house.
I’m the only one up. Fishing around in the dark for my running stuff. Trying not to wake anyone.
My body has figured out the morning routine and I’m forced to take a seat in the tiled library before I can get down the stairs.
Reading a chapter in “Working” by Studs Terkel. https://www.amazon.com/Working-People-Talk-About-What
Short Chapters. Good bathroom book.
5:15 – Downstairs.
Putting my Mizunos back on because I don’t want to ruin my Hokas in this slop. Wake up the dog and let him out.
Brooks rain shell. Could use gloves but they are in the clean laundry that I haven’t folded yet. No way I’d find them in the dark.
The sun is up. But it is so overcast and stormy there is no light.
Grab Garmin off the charger, strap it on.
Get bottle from fridge.
Grab dog’s leash.
Grab dog from front lawn.
5:35 out the door.
Trails are full-on flooded from two days of rain. Lot’s of splashing and jumping over mud holes.
Buddy trying to kill me. He’s cutting in front of me an slowing down. Changing lanes at inopportune times. Trying to trip me.
Tired. Legs, body, mind, soul…Tired.
Cut Buddy’s loop short to 1.9 instead of 2.2. This will let me take a different trail route that has fewer low areas and hence less flood.
5:55 – Drop Buddy at the house.
Got to take a few minutes to towel him off. Block the stairs so he stays down stairs. Have to take my Garmin off so it won’t try to auto-sync when I walk by by computer. Hands are so cold I struggle with the strap.
Hang the dog leash. Grab my bottle. Put the Garmin back on.
6:00 AM – head back out.
Trails are a mess. Legs are hungover from Sunday’s 15 miler.
Head up by the AT&T tower over the ridge on the high side to stay dry. Fighting the up hills. No wildlife out except the occasional squirrel in the underbrush.
Branches hanging low into the trail, wet and heavy with rain. Swatting them aside or ducking while jumping around mud.
6:35 – back in the house.
Hands frozen. Dripping wet.
Grab iPhone and head out to the garden to take the picture. Trouble with phone as usual. Take 228 photos of which I’m going to use one.
Get my oatmeal started. Get my coffee started. Switch on my computer. Put the Garmin close to the ANT stick so it will sync.
Head up stairs.
6:45 into shower and shave.
Hot water is good to get my hands functional. I look tired in the mirror.
7:00 Dressed and headed back downstairs for breakfast.
Collect my coffee. Stir my hot oatmeal. Connect up the phone.
7:03 Sitting here talking to you.
Ciao,
Chris,