running hopping thinking

there's a lot of little bits making up an 8 k run
i had planned to run @ 5am and somehow even woke up at 5:08 but promptly rolled over and said fuck that
woke again at 7 but ended up reading and wasting time until 8
legs and back weirdly stiff

the first k or so is always a matter of pushing through that barrier of ugh - getting the blood flowing, sucking up some energy and oomph from somewhere - just got kicking along nice when i ran into an elderly couple and their 300 lb bull mastiff

the poor lady was laying down practically horizontal with her heels dug in trying to restrain the slobbering, barking, growling, pawing, leaping, lunging monster who wanted nothing more, so it seemed, than to eat me alive right then and there. i'm normally careful to walk past dogs but this time i thought maybe a quick scamper was best...

as it turned out i would need the adrenaline for the next section of the trip - the rail bed between the 217 and the dirt road is one big maze of puddles - i call it the lake district - running through the lake district is like running a steeple chase - it is great for the mind and body - im constantly figuring which route to take - which puddles to run aroound and which to jump over -my mind (because it is something that happens just below the level of consciousness) is constantly measuring where each foot should land, whether i need to shorten or lengthen stride to stay in rythmn with the landscape - it is fun and by the end of that kilometre and a half i was huffing and puffing from going at it so hard

then i raced a jetta up the road for a while and almost beat her to the highway... before crossing the hayfield and heading for the tracks - my glasses were fogging up badly in the mist and humidity and i must have been fallin asleep behind them because it came as a rude shock when i hit the rocky stretch leading to the rail bed again - normally there are 3 dogs that bark at me along that stretch but none this mornin - perhaps they are getting used to me or perhaps the heavy rain and lightening last night had something to do with it

i was really dragging coming down water street but still managed to leap up and touch both Bed n Breakfast signs - i was completely soaked - alittle from the grass and leaves and leaning lupines but more as you can imagine from sweat - such a humid day - my shirt im sure weighed an extra 5 pounds by the end of the run - my calves felt/ feel a little strained, pulled even - probably from all the jumping

i remember one especially ambitious jump - i probably should have stopped and walked around the lake for this was no puddle!! - but i decided instead to jump - it was huge - i remember taking off as hard and fast as i could - i had been thinkin (again thinking is not right - these decisions are made below consciousness) but i took off as if i was going to land on two feet but in mid air i realizedi couldnt reach and swiveled my left hip forward - which is strange because i normally land on my righ leg - and reached out for the landing - i remember it because the whole jump seemed to take forever - i knowit wasn't in Michael Jordan's league - but it felt like what i imagine it feels like to be jordan - the land (ie. water of the lake) kept rolling away beneath me - and someow i just hanging up there - then i touched down - my lead heel splashing in the lake and as my right foot followed kicking forward, it hit the splash from my heel - weird

thinking a lot during this run about future runs - about 20 km in two weeks, about switching my training a little to prepare for the scallop days 5k, about the agony of my last marathon, about avoiding another lung infection, about this being my last 8 k for a while - mymidweek runs now bump up to 10 k - i havent mapped out a ten k coourse yet?

about how id always rather be running...