Lost in the Woods

"Lost in the Woods"....sounds like the title of a scary movie or something. This week it applies to my 15 mile run I tried to tackle! I left my apartment early this morning in an attempt to beat the heat and try out a new route along the Charles. My usual routes never really go past the J.F.K St bridge, but this week I planned to go out towards the Mt. Auburn St bridge in Watertown. Everything seemed to be going as planned until I reached around mile 9. The area along the Charles river near Watertown is pretty much new territory for me. I ran with a fuel belt filled with H2O and Gatorade, but with the heat steadily increasing early in the morning, I seemed to start to run a little low. Usually there are water fountains along the Charles I can depend on to rehydrate. This time to my surprise there were none! So that was the first downfall in my run for the day. Then I went on to get lost while trying to find the Mt. Auburn St bridge. I somehow got off course, and ended up turning around and crossing over the river at the N. Beacon St. Bridge. This "lost in translation" probably added about 2 miles to my 15 mile run. So not only was I lost, and running in unchartered territory, but I was also completely out of fluids. It was extremely hot, and for one of the first times during my training runs, I was plain frustrated!! Running is a very mental game, and when you lose your focus, its very difficult to get back on track. Getting lost turned a normal training run into a miserable voyage back to my apartment. My only goal at that point was to make it back home, hopefully passing a water fountain on the way. I'll even admit that I even walked part of the way, something I usually try not to do unless stopping at an intersection! I guess all of my runs can't be "perfect". A definite lesson learned from this one, always plan for the unexpected, and don't let getting lost get you down! After getting back to my apartment and stretching at a nearby park, I went out for some food with a buddy to rant and refuel.

Hopefully next week's long run will be a bit more pleasurable!

Until next time,
-Kevin