14 miles
franklin – ford- hidden falls – confluence
66 degrees / humidity: 82%
Whew, that was hard, and I was slow, but I did it! Those last couple miles, I had to dig deep. During mile 13, my calf kept almost cramping up when I ran for more than a minute or too, so I mostly walked. But by the last mile, I could mostly run. Sitting on my deck to write this, the cicadas are so LOUD! I wonder what the decibel level of their vibrating thoraxes is? I’m proud of my run — that I kept going, that I don’t care how slow I am, that I could be outside and moving for almost 3 hours.
14 Things
- cool, green shade on the west side of the river
- a male coxswain to his rowers, 1 minute and 26
- music blasting from a bike speaker: “Mr. Blue Sky”
- a group of runners joking around — male runner 1: so what’s next for you? male runner 2: umm. . . mr1: Are you doing the city of lakes? mr2: oh, of course — you don’t want to know about my personal life, just my running
- a lean, fast runner, running barefoot (I saw him last week too, but forget to write about it)
- passing a woman in pink shoes, she called out, good work. I called back, you too!
- Mr. Morning! — morning! / good morning!
- the interior of a porta potty — so much colorful (and well-done) graffiti — very cool
- east river view, on the way to the confluence — beautiful blue water, open, gently curving way below me
- too many leaves to get a view of the mississippi and the minnesota at the confluence
- music blasting from another bike speaker: Katy Perry’s “Firework”
- view from the ford bridge: a white boat, alongside a rowing shell
- someone running with a dog, her shirt tucked into the straps on the back of her running bra
- 2 runners ahead of me, both in trail running vests, one wearing bright orange shorts
For years, I’ve wanted to run the stretch of trail between Hidden Falls and the Confluence. Today I did, and it was longer and hillier than I expected. Also, beautiful.
water fountains where I refilled my bottle: 3
porta potties stopped at: 1
bridges crossed: 3
cliff blocks consumed: 6
shirtless runners encountered: at least 4
coxswain’s overheard: 2
roller skiers passed: 1
I almost forgot: near the monument, I was thinking of stopping at the porta potty in the parking lot, but just as I reached it, I heard a shirtless runner call out to his group of runners — hey, I gotta poop. He stopped and heading towards the bright blue porta potty. Guess I won’t be stopping — bummer.
Yesterday Scott and I move RJP into her college dorm. She was overwhelmed — too overwhelmed. It’s exhausting and heartbreaking, but I think we’ve come up with a plan for her that will keep her on track (I hope). She will start her classes and gradually get used to stuff, and then start living at the dorm in a week or so.