“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” - Walt Disney

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A Change of Scenery

I was in Ohio this past weekend for a friend's wedding.  We're both runners, and we're both training for races, so I knew he'd be up for a long run with me.  I needed to get in 8 or 9 miles and he needed 20.  Seeing as how he's literally twice as fast as I am, that would work out pretty well - we'd finish at roughly the same time. 

I had visited him in Columbus before, and we'd run "together" (i.e. on the same path) that trip, so I had a pretty good idea of where we'd be running this time around - the Olentangy Trail.  And yup, I was right - same trail!  But we were starting further north this time, so I'd get to see a different section of the trail.



Because the wedding was Saturday, and I was getting in mid-day on Friday, we moved the run to Friday afternoon.  I figured that wasn't too big of a deal, weather-wise, because hey, Ohio's cooler than Texas, right?  Well, yes, it was cooler, but not nearly as much as I'd've liked.  I guess that's what we get for running in the early afternoon.  And yeah, it says "cloudy" but it was actually mostly sunny with a few clouds - thank goodness there was some good shade from the tall trees surrounding the trail.


Well, between the heat and the travel, that wasn't the best combination of circumstances for me.  Plus, I went out entirely too fast for the first couple of miles.  I tried to slow myself down in the 3rd, but knew that I'd basically screwed myself.  I turned around at about 2.8 and headed back to the trailhead, forcing myself into a 30:60 interval pattern just to make sure I made it - I was really feeling the heat and the earlier speed.

M passed me (he'd decided to do 10 first and see how he felt) with about 0.5 mile to go, and we met back up at the end.  He headed back out for 5 more for a total of 15, and I stopped at 5.5, dreaming of a cold shower back at my hotel.

Not a great run, statistics-wise, but it's always fun to see a new place, and it's never a bad thing to get in a run while on vacation!