10 miles!

Today was The Longest I Have Ever Run. 10 miles.

It was yet another rainy Saturday and we all met early in Ithaca at 6:15 to beat the heat. (Beating the heat turned out not to be necessary since it was mostly in the 60s all day and kind of breezy but it was good to get an early start anyway.)

We started running. I remembered to start my watch. We all got soaked to the bone almost right away. (I wrung out my shorts and shirt a few times as we were running but soon gave this up since it was hopeless.) But I kept plodding along until we were finished. With the exception of the three water stops at which everyone stopped for a minute or two, I ran the whole time. No walking.

I was last but still felt good at the end, not winded at all just starting to feel a little sore in the joints. Since I also remembered to stop my watch this week, I know that I ran the 10 miles in 1 hour and 58 minutes. Not speedy but satisfying. And though it had stopped raining by this time my shorts were still so wet that they dripped on my sneakers as I walked back to the car.

Amazingly, I feel better today than I did last week when we only ran 9 miles. My right hip is a little sore but much better than last week. And, after a two-hour afternoon nap, I feel almost refreshed.

Nature sightings today included a possum (crossing the road as I was driving down to Ithaca), a mother deer and two spotted fawns (on the bike path we run on), a chipmunk (which I almost stepped on because it couldn't decide where to go) and a baby bunny.

I also was able to identify many of the weedy wildflowers that I saw on the roadside: old favorites birdsfoot trefoil, chicory, and wild carrot (did you know this is another name for Queen Anne's Lace?), as well as recently learned wild parsnip (which can give you a burn if you're exposed to the plant juice and then the sun), and bull thistle which I have just noticed with its beautiful pinky-purple flower.

Thanks again to Craig Cramer of Cornell who suggested that I take a look at Weeds of the Northeast by Richard Uva. I borrowed this fantastic book from our local library and, with the help of its great photographs, may soon (I hope) be able to name many more of the flowers that keep me occupied as I run along our country roads.