Birthday Run

I am not a morning person, and, consequently, I was not happy with the 5:30 a.m starting time. But it was my son's 27th birthday run, and I had agreed to do whatever he wanted. It was cold, about 30 when we left his house and headed towards Grand Blvd and then north, the opposite direction from where we were going. We did a little out and back on the Blvd to add the necessary distance before we made it to the Yazoo River levee and picked up our walk into a slow run. We ran the levee and made it onto the bridge and then resumed walking. That would be our manner of the day: walking/running with no effort or desire for speed. We were going 27-miles and neither of us were really fit enough for that distance.

The beginning of another gift from God

When the eastern sky began to turn a stunningly beautiful orange, we stopped to urinate and take a few pictures. That's when I decided I was OK with the early start. The sight of that sky alone was worth the price of admission.

We made our way through the industrial park, onto old Highway 49, and then onto the present Highway 49. A store sits at the spot where we got to exit the busy highway and once more ambulate the old, mostly deserted highway. We stopped and Forrest bought a breakfast sandwich, and he also treated me to a cup of coffee.

After Forrest ate his sandwich, we walked while I drank my coffee. No, we didn't litter. When I finished the coffee, Forrest allowed me to store my trash in the pouch of his hydration pack, and then we began to run slowly up the old highway towards the tiny delta town of Sidon.

Forrest and me on the road

We made Sidon about 13-miles into our trek and instead of stopping at the store there, we crossed Highway 49 and entered the most enjoyable stretch of our journey. We were alone now, in the open delta and headed for the loess bluffs that overlook our stretch of flat farmland. Once more we slowed to a walk trying to pace ourselves for the final 10-miles, which I knew from experience would be the most difficult.

We turned off the road we were on and travelled an even more desolate one that turns gravel, runs to the hill-line, then follows the foot of the hills giving some beautiful vistas along its route.

When we made it to the foot of the hills, Forrest was beginning to lag behind and little. I noticed him grimacing a little and asked him how he felt. Blisters proved to be the culprit. I had packed a homemade blister kit, which consitsted of a pin, Kiesio tape, and scissors. We got Forrest taped up and then rusumed our journey.

Somehow we acquired a dog, an energetic, lab-mix, who would stay with us the rest of the day. The road that skirts the foot of the hill line is called Galey Road and it runs into Humphrey Highway at the base of a hill that rises 264 feet over seven tenths of a mile. At the top of that hill sits a little store, Acey's, that has some of the best short-order cooking you could ever imagine. We stopped at the store and ate some sinfully delicious food.

At Acey's, we were a little over 22-miles into our run, and when we left, our stomachs felt better but our legs were pretty much shot. Forrest, however, was determined to make his 27-miles "even if I have to crawl," he said. Leaving Acey's he was the one pushing the pace, and I was the one lagging behind.

We passed the marathon distance with a "Whu-hoo!" and continued our survival shuffle towards his grandmother's house where we had plans to hang out and have supper with a few family members. He pulled ahead as we neared our destination. I was proud of him and happy that I had survived my longest run in several years.

Already, we are thinking about next year. It will be 28-miles and maybe we can be fit enough to run much more of it. Our evening meal was great, and when my wife and I got home, I went to bed and slept like I had been drugged. Great day.