A New Route

I was supposed to run with the Harey Tortuga group this morning, but had to miss it in order to complete my motorcycle safety class. (Yes, I recently purchased a Yamaha VStar 650!) At any rate, because my class started at 6:45 AM and lasted until nearly 4:00 PM, I was unable to meet with my running group. Goodness knows I wasn't about to run in the heat of the afternoon, so I set my goal Thursday night to get up and run 8.5 miles Friday morning before heading off to work. The problem? I didn't know an 8-mile route from my house.

My lovely husband jumped in his card and sleuthed his way around our winding neighborhood, until he had come up with a plan. At nearly 11:30 Thursday night, I wasn't looking forward to the 4:30 AM wake-up call.

If you've read my early running blogs, you will find that running is mostly mental. I struggle with my "running confidence" and Friday morning was no different. Thirty minutes prior to my alarm, I was awake and grumbling. However, I have found that once I put money on a race, I am more apt to train, so off I went, head lamp on lighting the way. At mile three I was feeling good. At mile six I could feel the finish line and by mile 8.5 I was hot, sweaty and happy. The route took me through rolling Citrus Heights, into Fair Oaks and down to the American River Bike Trail and back. I wouldn't want to run it on a busy afternoon (there would be too many cars on part of the route), but it was lovely in the early morning. Seeing the sun come up while on a run is amazing. It's like the world started its day just for me.