Did I buy weights? No, but there might or might not have been an attempt.
Did I take a nap? Yes, but that was not the main event.
Did I take a run, maybe in an unusual place? Bingo. Let me tell you about it.
Over the past few weeks, I have been traveling and doing some serious (for me) uphill shuffling. First, I went to Little Mountain and ran up it not once but two times. Then last week, I traveled to the Big Black River boat ramp on Highway 407. The summit of the hill climbing out of the Big Black Bottom is 1.25 miles from its base if you go south. I ran that one three times.
This week, I went to Carroll County, out Humphrey Highway to New Hope Baptist Church where I parked. The hill there is not nearly as long or steep as Little Mountain of the Big Black River hill, but it is a solid one half mile and the steepness is just enough to make you work hard but allow for some push.
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| New Hope Church sits at the summit of my latest hill run. |
I started the run with an easy shuffle to the bottom, headed back towards town, then across it and over the next hill. That took me past the old Dave's Store, closed now for decades, but still holding some fond memories for me. When I was eight years old, Dad bought me a Yoo Hoo Chocolate drink there.
By the time I got back to the base of the hill, I had 1.34 miles done, and I was warmed and ready to run. I pushed up the half mile the first time at an 11:46 per mile average pace. It's been a few years since I have done this hill. I think I used to break 10:00 on it.
I shuffled down, trying to recover, and ran up again. This time, my average was 11:14. On the third climb, I did 11:36, and the fourth was a painful 11:53. I knew then I would never get back up under 12:00 that day unless I drove it.
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| The cemetery at New Hope |
I took a little detour through the New Hope Cemetery before stopping at the truck for an Endurolyte, a Gu, and some Gatorade. Then I left shuffling towards a gravel road I used to run often when I wore a younger man's running shoes. I knew of a tough hill on it that I thought would be good to run up. I didn't plan to push the pace on it, just make it to the top, and that's what I did.
While in that area, I stopped at the Shady Grove M. B. Church, hoping to find a bathroom. Did they have an outdoor toilet, maybe a real restroom that could be accessed from the outside, or maybe an unlocked door? I needed to sit down, if you know what I mean.
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| The summit of the gravel hill. See that building in the background? That's the Shady Grove Church. |
Believe it or not, I not only found an unlocked door, I found one that was open. It frightened me a little bit, because I wondered if an intruder was in there. I peeped in, and seeing no one, I eased in. There was a counter, and I tipped up towards it and warily looked over to see if someone was sleeping on the floor. I found no one. I also found no bathroom. To make it all even better, there was no ingress to the rest of the church. I did, however, find some napkins, and I took a few with me thinking they might come in handy.
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| That's pretty right there; I don't care who you are. |
I left the church forlorn and stepping gently. I watched my Garmin and aimed to get far enough away that the run back to the truck would give me the distance I wanted. As I shuffled along, I was hit again and again by waves of nostalgia as I thought back to when I used to regulary run these roads but at a much faster pace than now.
I made my turn and headed back to the truck. When I got there, I had shuffled 10.81 miles and had climbed 587 feet. Not bad for an old man, says I.
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