12:21 a.m. - 2008-01-21
The Frozen Tundra
Today was colder than a witch's tit. But before we do today, let's go back a few days.
When I last left me, I was anticipating cows pissing on flat rocks. I wasn't disappointed. Cows came, pissed and the rivers and streams filled well beyond their banks. I ran in a warm mist that Monday. Shorts were still worn comfortably that day. We got real rain that night and Tuesday. I ran Wednesday. It was sunny and in the upper 30's as I recall. I'd intended on getting in about 4 miles. I've been trying to up my mileage a little bit. So I stretch those 3 milers I've been doing to 4 milers. I headed to the trails at Lake of the Woods at Mahomet. I started at the far west end of the park and jogged the bike trail to Rt.47, crossed the highway and followed the trail into the main portion of the park. Typically I would go just as far as the golf course and turn around and retrace my steps. That would be almost exactly 4 miles. Before I got to the golf course there was a covered bridge to run through. The bridge crosses the Sangamon River. The river at this point isn't much more than a creek. It's about 25 to 30 feet wide and approxmately 3 feet deep. As I approached the bridge I could see barricades across the road and people milling about in front of the bridge. The river which would normally piddle along 15 feet below the bridge was at the bottom of the bridges road bed. The bed itself was dry, but the road just beyond the bridge was completely underwater. Imagine all the grass in this picture covered with water and that's exactly what it looked like.
There were actually a couple of people walking on the bridge itself. Didn't seem like a good idea to me, but hey, people do stupid things all the time and stupid isn't illegal. Anyway the run was halted there and as such was about a half mile shorter than I intended. I could have added the half mile somewhere else on the way back but I'm basically lazy so...
Which brings us to that Friday. I did get my 4 miles in that day. I can't remember where, but it wasn't at the covered bridge.
Sunday I tried to get a little longer run in again. February 2nd there's an event over at Kennekuk Cove called the Fat Ass. It's put on by the Kennekuk Road Runners. This is the running cub in Danville,IL. I joined it this year as it has some good events that are members only deals, one of them being the Fat Ass. This race is run at the trail around Lake Mingo. Yes, that's really the name of the lake. And no, I don't know who or what it's named after. Anyway the trail is 7.1 miles long. To actually achieve "Fat Ass" status you must run 4 loops of the trail. There's no way in hell I'm going to make it around 4 loops of the trail. The "Large Ass" status is bestowed upon those who make 3 loops of the trail. The "Average Ass" might be attainable if I happen to be having an unbelievable 'in the zone' day. Most likely I'll have to settle for the "Small Ass". If nothing else I'll get to meet some of the other members, get some exercise and have a few cocktails afterwards. This was why I was trying to get in a little longer run that day. I ran a few trails and roads at Allerton Park covering a total of 6.3 miles. Hopefully I'll build up enough that I can take a stab at the "Medium Ass" on race day.
I took a day off after that one and did 3 miles Tuesday and then 4 miles Wednesday.
My plan then was to do another 4 miles Friday and get in a Sunday run just a little longer than than the previous Sunday. Maybe like 8 miles. But Friday came and I was a lazy piece of shit and didn't run. Saturday was colder than I really felt like dealing with. The high was 13. I bundled up and got in 3 miles just to get some exercise.
Today was similar. It was maybe a little warmer. It was probably 16 or 17 when I went out. I did a very leisurely 4 miles. I just didn't feel up to being out there any longer than that. Tomorrow is supposed to have a high temp of about freezing which will feel like a heatwave compared to the last couple days. I'm going to head over to Lake Mingo and take a spin around it plus another mile to take me to the 8 mile mark. Typically I wouldn't exert myself that much on a Monday. However, we government employees have been blessed with another bullshit holiday tomorrow,(and I think they're all bullshit)so I've got a day to recover from whatever I do to myself at Mingo.
In other unbelievably exciting news, I got myself one of those Camelback hydration packs. Supposedly it will hold 2 liters of liquid. I'm planning on wearing it to the Fat Ass. The Fat Ass will have no aid stations so you need to bring your own liquids and food. I'm going to try to take it out a few times in the next couple weeks to get used to using it.
That's all for the moment. Until next time, happy trails!
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