Oops. It's been 2 weeks since I last ran - actually, it's been two weeks since I've done anything remotely resembling exercise, if you don't count the half-hour I rode Amos on Wednesday. Bad me. Stop skipping Yoga. You can at least pretend that you're keeping with your marathon training if you're limbering up twice a week!
So. No exercise. So I figured the first beautiful Saturday of Spring would be a good day to get back in the swing of things. I made arrangements with Fox to pick her dog up, and take him down to the Patuxent trail. I figured I could go for about an hour, maybe a little longer. I planned to do four miles, but hoped to do six.
I only got a little lost getting to the trail from Fox's house. It's not my fault. Last time, I found it by accident around 9 pm on the Saturday it was snowing. This time, I assumed I still wouldn't be able to find it without some searching, so I let Snicker pick a path. Last time I'll ever let that Jack Russell lead...
So I hopped on the path and decide to go the other direction - left, in this case. I set my handy-dandy new iron man watch at a 4/1 interval (Run 4 minutes, walk 1, repeat
ad infinitum ) and started off. After a bit, I came across a sign with a couple of places and their mileage from the sign. Lake Elkhorn was 2 miles away, so I figured if I could make it there and back, that'd be good for a restart from my 2 week hiatus.
I wasn't feeling too bad by the time I got to the lake, so I decided to go around the lake as well, to supplement my definite 4 mile run. After all, I was hoping for a 6 mile one... I decided to take it easy around the lake, though, and changed my interval to a 3/2.
By the time I was half way around the lake, I was almost thirsty enough to contemplate lake water. Almost. I envied Snicker - no one looks twice at a dog drinking from a lake or stream.
Then we headed back at the same leisurely 3/2 pace. It's starting to cool down; the peepers in the marshy areas are singing full force, and I'm looking at my watch and my pedometer wondering how it's taking me 2.5 hours to run 5 miles.
I got back to Fox's house (after asking someone in a different neighborhood how to get to her house), and grabbed my water from my car. I went in to drop off the dog and chat, and first thing Fox said was that she had started to get worried, we'd been gone so long. I told her I was sorry, I should have mentioned that I intended to do a 6 mile run. She asked me were I went, and I told her we went around Lake Elkhorn.
"Oh," she says, very casual, "that's 10 miles."
Oops. I just ran 10 miles. I ACCIDENTALLY ran 10 miles. How does anyone accidentally run 10 miles?
On the bright side, I have no fears for the upcoming half-marathon. If I can accidentally run a cold 10 miles in two and a half hours, I can definitely run 13.1 miles in 4 hours! Woot!
