Right There Waiting…

… after my FIRST 5.03 MILE RUN on the MONT0UR TRA1L.

Yeah, I know. I didn’t think I was going to get in another JULY DEST1NATION RUN either.  Apparently, the stars aligned and all those ‘jazz hands’…

It was a beautiful morning for a run.  Cool, low humidity.  I was excited to explore the tra1l from Routes 50 and 980 near MUCK'S LUNCH.

I liked this part of the trail, partly because it’s tree-lined* and the path is not only rustic, but gravel/dirt and easier on my knees.  As I ran my first real distance with the 10:1 TRA1NING, I realized that I could actually DO more with this type of interval training.  With a little repetition and work, it could work for me physically as well as mentally.  Running 10 minutes, waiting for the 1 minute prompt to walk, it was easier to stay distracted and not worry about how far I’d gone or how much FURTHER I had yet to run.

Driving over, I thought about what distance I wanted to run – I don’t know why I settled on 5 miles, other than knowing I’d run over 4 miles the last two times I’d been out for a LONG run.  I just had this instinctive feeling that I could tackle the 5 miles easily.

As I took in my surroundings on the trail – I realized I could smell the hay fields and wild honeysuckle on either side of me.  I was running through farm country toward F0rt Cherry.  I noticed at least two benches in the 2.5 miles I ran out before doubling back.  I thought about the trail as a railway system and the hobos who’d jumped a boxcar to ride from point-to-point.  Here I was running the same route!

Headed toward me, I was passed by 3 bicyclists and 2 joggers – other than that, I didn’t see another soul.  It was peaceful, tranquil and I was able to go inside myself for a bit of introspection.

Perfect!

I gotta tell ya – it was good to see the port-o-potty on my return trip!!

I’m looking forward to my next run on the trail.  I’m thinking of heading to McD0nald and running toward F0rt Cherry then returning another time to run from McD0nald toward Imper1al.

Little by little, I’ll tackle the trail!

*Unfortunately, the trees played a little havoc with my G*P*S, but I got it figured out.