Day 29, Take 2: My First Blister

Hours after my trek, all I can think of is a line from one of my favorite movies, "Can't Hardly Wait," which goes something like, "I have no legs.....I HAVE NO LEGS!" I literally have no feeling in my legs. But we have a very, very, very long way to go before we get to that. Settle in.

Today I had reasons to spend the day in Columbia and it was supposed to be "cool." I hoped against hope that I would get to take in the 10K route. I dropped Husband off at work and tried to scope out a trail on the route that I wasn't clear on the location of. There is a small bridge out near the trail, and I have feared for sometime that this was going to pose a problem with me getting through my route. I drove all around the area and saw no trail. So I decided to go to the start/finish line, and walk the route backwards. I would be starting out on the MKT Trail at Flat Branch Park, looking for MU's Recreation Trail. I thought I would have better luck finding it where it connected to the MKT than just randomly picking it up in the middle of a construction zone. Worst case scenario, I would have to turn around and go back...I would still cover a lot of ground today.

Once I parked, I had a lot to do. I was packing sunglasses, ID, cash (in case a cab was needed), car key, 24 oz water bottle, phone, mp3 player, and pen (because I had a feeling there would be a lot to remember). Before I left the car, I put on sunblock. I meant to pack my ankle wrap. I wasn't going to wear it on my ankle, because it kind of hurts my foot, but I wanted it with me, so I was going to wrap my wrist or something. Oh, did I mention my outfit had no pockets whatsoever and I refuse to believe running with a backpack is effective?

I was a little leery of Flat Branch Park. I've never really checked it out, but for being right downtown, it's pretty secluded and I've heard there have been some bum incidents, so I was on alert as soon as I left the car. The first thing I spot are a pair of pants on the rocks by the creek, and a group of people downstream, in the creek, in those vests that the community service people wear. Love.Ly. At least, if there's a group of them, there has to be someone watching, and I can suffer walking past them. I think.

I finally got all my gear situated, stretched and set off at 9:44. Geesh. I had a lunch date at 12:30 and needed to at least change my clothes beforehand. I hope this works out. I spent the entire 5 minutes I was walking untangling my ear phone cords. So, I saw nearly nothing until I was under Providence. Except for the clean up crew. They were children. Clearly volunteers. Oops. Well, they scare me quite a bit, too, anyway.

So my alarm goes off to run. First time in 10 days, and I'm going for 9 minutes. My mp3 won't come on. Balls. Apparently the battery goes dead in 10 days. Noted. (Funny, too, since I was worried about having a full charge on my phone so I could use it for pictures.) Since I was already running and had all this crap in my hands anyway, I just left my headphones on. I turn onto the main part of the trail and here comes a guy on a bike, all grins. Wha? I thought you were supposed to be blatantly rude to runners!? Oh yeah. I'm in Columbia. What a difference a few miles make in how people treat each other. I encountered friendly person after friendly person all morning. It made the whole experience better.

I'm trudging along, really digging running on the gravel path, in the shade, on a lovely day - although I did get hot quite quickly. I had no real idea what to expect out of my performance. I was breathing hard, of course, and I realized I was probably going way too fast, so I slowed back. Since I had all my gear, it was harder than normal to check the time, but I finally gave in and checked in the 5th minute. Ooof. But I was over halfway and that was amazing. By the way, I saw absolutely nothing as I was running. I was only watching my footing for snakes, and plugging along. I saw no scenery, nothing. I had always wanted to walk (key word) this section of the MKT, and here I was blowing through, missing it all! Oh wait. I saw benches. Glorious, tempting, benches. There aren't benches along the sidewalks at home. Oh man, they look nice.

Holy cow. Is that Stadium Blvd up ahead? You've got to be kidding me that I just ran from Stewart/Providence to Stadium. You have GOT to be kidding. Too bad I'm about to pass out. And there's a bench just right before Stadium. Oh man. Goal: 9 minutes. No, goal: Stadium.. Noo, goal: BENCH! Yes, I am sitting down on the bench. I don't give a frak about anything, except the glory of sitting right now!! I sat for about, maybe, 10 seconds, and the alarm went off. I count this as a success. I popped up and kept going. I still wanted to time out the 5 minutes walk, so that I could get a normal stat report, even though I'd be going much further.

Now that I was walking, I could take some pictures to share, my goal all along, but not even thought of (nor possible) while running.





I could also take note of other runners. The ones that are making NO noise while breathing offend me. How in the world do they do it?! I took far too much joy in one guy who was all red-faced, and kinda leaning, face clearly in pain, panting like crazy (and he was like 18 and looked fit). Regardless, for everyone out there getting their exercise on, I was impressed and happy for them.

I came up on the MU trail way faster than I expected (10:11). It had a sign noting that it was closed ahead (we'll see..there has to be a way), and to watch out because the trail is rough today (what does THAT mean?!). Well, there weren't many people on this part of the trail (I think I saw 3)..that doesn't bode well, but I trek on. Husband's Best Friend is texting me info on the trail that is further leading me to believe that I am going to be turning back and re-tracing my steps. Oy.

While the MKT is totally in trees and rocks and streams, this trail has trees on one side (with a creek), and a big corn (?) field on the other side that is part of MU (In the picture, the trail is ahead, going across the picture, between the trees and field). The field has a giant electric fence around it. The sign states that it is to keep deer out. Mhm. And obnoxious trail people who want to cut across. I mean, I am sure there are deer around this area, but really??

So I'm walking along, on the right side of the trail, like a proper hiker, and here is the situation. I think I kicked some gravel in my left shoe. However all those lovely benches seem to have been illusions, because I haven't seen one in some time and there is no way I am sitting down on the ground to take my shoe off. I am looking at the ground, watching for snakes. I fear they will be hanging off the trees, so I'm not looking at the trees. If I don't see them, they aren't there. There is a lot of random nature-y bits on the trail, all of which could be a snake until I get close enough to confirm it isn't. Again, walking along, and there is a noise in the tall grasses, directly to the right of me. I jumped like a cartoon. I literally went from the position I was in, to the exact same position, 6 inches to the left. It was absurd. I'm sure I have a back injury from such a Matrix-ly absurd move. Um, so there are no people out here, why am I walking up against the side of the path with the wildlife?! I walked in the middle the rest of the route.



Here was an example of the bit more creepy section of the Rec Trail:
As I came up on civilization again, I came up on this bridge.

Here's a better picture of it!

And saw these ginormous wildflowers.

The rest of the route consisted of passing some giant extreme climbing contraption, which I believe is now being used for team building with, like, corporations. I'd rather be unemployed than go up on that death trap like the screamy happy idiots out there today. Then there were the elusive tennis courts...a reminder I could be at home watching my beloved Wimbledon instead of having walked 3 miles. Of course, at that point, I wasn't precisely sure how far I had walked. I thought the tennis courts, which were right by the bridge that's out, was about halfway in the 10K route, but I wasn't sure until I got home. I hoofed on past them, saw that indeed there was no clear way to get to the other side (to the first half of the 10K route), and turned it around. I needed to pick up the pace a bit to make sure I'd make it to lunch on time.

I was disappointed that I couldn't get to the other side, but two pluses: 1. I now got to go the second half of the route in the right direction so I could get a real feel for it. 2. I've already walked nearly every step of the first half of the route before. I have walked that route across MU's campus a trillion times. The parts I haven't walked (one small section), I have driven. This part that I walked today I have never been on. And I had no way to check out, except to get out there and check it out. So, essentially, I can visualize the whole route now, and that was my objective.

That being said, I was headed back (10:34) and was mildly concerned that I was on part of the half marathon route - it runs mostly the same route as the 10K, but loops off to make up the extra distance, and I thought it split somewhere along here. There was another trail on the other side of the corn, but I was fairly certain it was just an access road for the fields. And, what the crap!? There was a deer standing on said road. Figures, after my ranting on the fence. I tried to get a picture, but my phone isn't very fancy, and it's a big field. Anyway, here's a picture of the fence, field, and I promise, a deer.

Now that I'm home and better understand the routes, I was indeed on the correct trail. :)

This was a pretty dull route, so I tried some of my yoga walking and/or nature meditations. I wasn't very successful, because I was too worried about snakes. For the record, I stepped on a snake on the MKT once. In sandals.

At 10:57, I made it back to the MKT. By the way, I was writing these times down on the back of my hand, like a total maniac.

The pain in my thighs was less excruciating, thanks to the, uh, blistering pain around my left heel. My notorious right ankle was a little painful, too, but not as severe as it's been. I was again grateful I took a nice long break from running. At 11, I got back to a bench. It was tucked under some trees, even moreso than every other bench along the path, so you know I looked it over before I sat down. I didn't have much time, but I really needed to sit. As soon as I sat, my legs started tightening up and I thought it may have been a really bad idea. Anyway, I pulled my left shoe off, and my sock was, like, annihilated. I was hoping that it was just the rough sock irritating me, but I suspected it was worse. I didn't see any gravel in there. What I did see was a daddy long legs creeping up on me, so the shoe was on, and at 11:03 I was headed back down the path like a bat out of hell...stay tuned for more on that subject.

The low point of the trip was not the spider, but shortly after when I was walking under Stadium, and right in the middle, I got dripped on. Yes, 'water' dripping off Stadium, dripped on me. I may as well go help clean up the Gulf - I can't have anything more toxic hit me than what just did.

As the gear I was carrying was getting so heavy that I was considering pouring out the rest of my water, I started thinking seriously about finding an old stroller. Man, those mama runners have it together! They have something to lean on and they don't have to haul all this gear. Imagine how much faster they'd go if the stroller only had their supplies in it and not a baby!

Here's one of the views I had on my way back downtown. I wish I could walk here everyday. (Those are boulders on the sides of the trail, and a bridge up ahead.)

I heard a bike coming up behind me, so I stepped further to the side, but it never seemed to catch up. I finally turned around to see a parks and rec truck behind me. Ugh. Those who have had the pleasure of hearing about Husband's hike across IL know that he had a truck run him off the trail, and he ended up rolling down a hill in the process. I found a place to step off, they went by, and it took all my strength to keep from rolling off the edge of the trail. And that's without a pack, or a couple hundred miles behind me.

Another view that I missed when I was running. Flat Branch Creek:

Well, I was nearing the end of my trip - I was going under Providence. A nice, creepy, long tunnel. All of a sudden a bird comes flying toward me. Crap! And a second one is right behind it! They kind of hover at the top of the tunnel - are they BATS?! I look around, and there's no one else to help me out here. I stand still, and here come two more. They are just circling around, right in the middle of this tunnel, the top of which is about a foot above me. I decided to go back out of the tunnel the way I came. I've been attacked by a bird, and I wasn't interested in it happening again. And I certainly wasn't interested in a bat attacking me. Worst case, I could cross Providence at street level. I noted the time, 11:28, because I wasn't sure how much time this was going to eat up. I watched from the end of the tunnel, until they chased each other out the other side, then I hustled on through.

Since I was messing with my ear phones the first time through here, I didn't notice how nice this Flat Branch Park area was at all. It's quite beautiful, especially for the area of town it's in. There's a fountain for the kids to play in and this statue - the Marathoners!

I did notice at the start of the hike that it smelled like someone was grilling. I still smelled it on the way back, and it made me think of how great the Roots N Blues N BBQ Fest is going to smell. I realized, though, that it was Hardee's that I was smelling. I suspect the BBQ will be more impressive.

Well, I nearly made it back to the car without incident, but I must mention the two 30 or 40 year olds throwing rocks at the creek. They barely stopped long enough for me to get through and I was treated to some of their humor as I passed ("You know, if you put some calamine lotion on that rash you're having, it should really help out," says Hillbilly 1 to Hillbilly 2). I should've put my ear buds back in when I saw them. Ick.

Ah well, I made it back to the car at 11:35. I drove out to Husband's office to change for lunch...taking off the shoes and socks revealed a MASSIVE blister on the inside of my left heel/ankle area. Gross. And I still had a whole day of errands to get through, even though the lower half of my body was/is numb! I now, more than ever, think Husband is crazy for his long hikes.

Well, I present 3 sets of numbers. My overall stats on the side of the blog just have the Walk 5, Run 9, Walk 5 numbers.

Weather (Thanks to Husband for emailing me a current report after dropping him off): 73, Sunny, Breezy 6mph, 61% Humidity

Time: 9:45am; Walk 5, Run 9, Walk 97
Distance: 10.14K (6.3m)
Elevation: +396.5/-396.5/net 0 ft
5K/10K: 51:44/1:49:21 (well above my averages)

Time: Walk 5, Run 9, Walk 5
Distance: 2.11K (1.31m)
5K/10K: 48:15/1:41:59 (Identical to Day 19)

Time: Run 9
Distance: 1.2K (.75m)
5K/10K: 42:03/1:28:52 (Worst "just run" time so far.)

I think today was the first time my averages went up. :( At least I did it. And my 2010 averages went down just barely, but I'll take it.