Adventure Run

I took notes, I really did. I even wore shorts over my tights although I think that is the dorkiest look ever. But I wanted easy access to my pencil and paper. Then when I got home, I dumped all my sweat laden clothing into the dirty clothes hamper where my wife dutifully picked up and washed. Notes included. My fault.

A few weeks back, I bumped into Lolo Lubiani. I knew he worked in Clarksdale so I asked him if I could hitch a ride with him one Friday morning. He said yes, so I began dreaming. Friday morning I finally cashed in the favor. He picked me up here at the Hideout and dropped me off at the Minter City United Methodist Church. I ran and walked home.

All I have from my adventure are a few photos, my memories, and the notes in my training diary that I wrote down from my watches. Yes, watch is plural. I wore two Garmins and a smile on my face as I started my slow-paced odyssey first north, then east, and eventually south towards home. First, I headed north to get to the road that runs parallel to Highway 8. Running busy highways has never been fun to me. Running rural roads, on the other hand, is one of life's simple pleasures. By five miles, I had reached the northern end of Money Road. 

Bellchase Road, which
parallels Highway 8.

I established a two mile run/one mile walk system. That system worked well until my feet started getting sore at around mile fourteen. Walking is harder on the feet than running, so I began to extend the runs farther and farther because I was not in pain running, but walking was uncomfortable.

Way out Money Road

The weather was absolutely perfect: clear and cold. I had plenty of fluid and ate a Snickers, a banana, and a Payday along with some gels. Problems were scarce. The only one I had was a dog that took up with me north of Money. He stayed with me a little over a mile although I never touched him or spoke to him. Once, an eighteen wheeler and a two-ton truck both stopped dead in the road to keep from running over him. People were nice like that.

Nearing Greenwood

The run took a long time. I'm too proud to tell how many hours. But I covered 23.77 miles, 16.65 running and 7.12 miles of walking. That was a bit of exercise and good training for the next Challenge. Thank you, Jesus.

Bad selfie taken on the run
near the end.