I pulled out some gels from their storage spot in a sock drawer. I put some Endurolytes in a plastic baggie. At half time of the ball game, I went to the Exxon Station where I filled the truck up with gas, and bought Gatorade, peanuts, and Moon Pies. I put my Garmin watch on the charger. I got my hydration packs out. The excitement was building.
During another commercial, I got my Fuel Belt out and loaded it with the usual fare: folding knife, water bottles, debit card, energy gels. I chose my clothes and laid them out for ready access in the morning. Next, I packed my small soft cooler with post run recovery drink and fruit. One more thing: I dug up some kenisio tape and a small pair of scissors. Last week, I developed small abrasions on the top of each foot. I didn't want skin damage to shut me down.
Now it was only time to rest. I watched football and soon slipped into the land of sleep with two teams battling on television. I never heard the TV click off.
As usual, I woke up groggy and two cups of coffee had me only minimally awake. I loaded, left, and Buddy and I parked at the Baptist Church in Holcomb from where we left at 9:00 am. It was already hot, and since I was still trying to wake up, we left walking instead of running for the first .75 of a mile. By then we were on the edge of town, and we began a slow shuffle out Sparta Road.
Two main things impressed my consciousness as we trotted along: the heat and the quiet. For September, the temps are a little above average. That's OK because I get to keep my heat acclimation a little longer which may help me at the 300 Oaks Road Race. The quietness was soothing as all I heard were crickets and birds. For the whole outing, I only saw a handful of automobiles, and few dogs, and three deer.
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| A solo deer taking a noon-time drink. |
Several times the quiet was shattered by dogs coming awake and roaring out to the road to challenge my presence. I became frightened a time or two but a little clicking of the mouth reduced all of these ferocious beasts to hand licking pups. I love dogs. Almost as much as cats.
At 5.62 miles, Buddy and I shuffled up to the Sparta Methodist Church, which was not quite as far as I expected after scoping the road out on Google Maps. It was close as I had guesstimated it a little over six miles from town. We shuffled on until we passed 16th Section Road where we had come upon Sparta last week. Then as we were nearing the last house we had run to a week ago, a vehicle pulled up and stopped.
"You out getting a little exercise?" an elderly woman with a chubby face and big white hair asked.
"Yes Ma'am," I answered not realizing at the time that I may have offended her. I do that a lot. People don't like to be called "Ma'am" and "Sir" by someone of my age. I do it because it is habit because that is how my momma raised me, and I do it because in my own mind I still view myself as a very young man although I am fifty-nine years old.
I offered her my hand and introduced myself, told her where I parked, and that besides exercise I was exploring roads and trying to have fun. She attempted to give me some directions on how to make a big loop and go back to Holcomb. I thanked her, and we parted ways.
A mile and a half later, Buddy and I had made it to Highway 35. I stopped in a spot of shade and texted Jessica who, last week, had offered to bring me water if I was up that way again. We swapped a couple of messages, a few of mine which I doubted went through because of spotty cell service. Buddy and I slowed to a walk and went down 35 a bit before turning back towards Sparta.
We reentered Sparta Road and Jessica's message said she was on the way with some liquid life. I still had Gatorade in my hydration pack but I knew I would probably run out before my outing was done. I had last week and stopped at a house to refill my hydration bladder only to get water that tasted so bad I could not drink it.
About the time we were beginning to wonder if Jessica was coming, we heard an approaching automobile. It was Jessica and her boyfriend. She gave me a 16.9 ounce bottle of water and her boyfriend held up a tub of candy to the car window. The treats were those pumpkin-looking things that taste like candy corn. He must have thought I was a hog of the worst sort when I grabbed a whole handful.
"Calories," I said out loud as I stuffed my mouth full.
We chatted briefly, I thanked them much, and then they were gone. Once more the silence took over. We walked until the candy and water was gone and then resumed our shuffle back towards Holcomb. Having turned around on Highway 35 at 9.15 miles, I knew we needed to run some side roads to get our twenty. We came upon Hillside Road and did an out-and-back on it. Then we came upon Duncan Road and I became confused (what else is new?) because the numbers weren't adding up. On the way out, I had made a mental note that this road was 2.99 miles from town. Now I saw we were short. We headed out Duncan and I began to wonder if it was really 2.99 or was it 3.99 from the truck?
To make a short story long, it must have been 3.99 because we wound up finishing with 21.01 miles. I never do math on the run very well. In fact, I never do math at home very well either. Actually, I never do math at all very well. But we made it. We shiked our longest shike of the season in spite of the heat. We learned some new roads, saw some new sights, and I even met a chubby-faced, big-haired woman. Life is good.
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