20 mile run…on accident

I had a head full of information and I was ready to decompress. It was about 12:30 in the afternoon and I decided the best thing for me would be a little run.  I set out to explore the trails I had recently discovered near the house. I have run out there a few times since the coyote incident, and found that the trail continues to follow the creek and went further than I had ventured. I found a map online for the trail system (see below, I am not sure what the Hiking part is, this whole area is virtually flat), and noticed that at one point it loops around a little pond. I set out to find this part of the trail, do the loop and come home.

It felt so good to be outside. I was breathing cool air, the sky was a consistant grey without sun, but everything was bright. The air smelled of damp earth and moss.  I am sure I was smiling. There isn’t much foot or bike traffic out here, so I was alone on the trail and it felt great. I fell into a steady rhythm and my brain kept me pre-occupied with puzzles of life, projects I am working on, and dreaming up new ones. Every once in awhile I would “come to” with the screaming of a circling hawk, or when I noticed something in the landscape: a squirrel collecting leaves, a dog barking, a fork in the path that required a decision, that I had just ran through a puddle or slid on some ice.

I was rather startled when I came around one bend and  found myself chasing 6 deer.  My pace didn’t slow, in fact I think I picked it up. I pictured myself as part of wildlife, one animal chasing another in a scene from history.  I had just finished the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall.  He makes the case that humans evolved into a running species. That our bodies are designed for running (no Nikes needed, thank you very much). That we actually can hunt by running things to death. I had no intention of attempting to run these animals to death, but I will admit that it was pretty entertaining. I stayed on the path running toward them. They sprinted ahead about 30 feet, then would stop, scatter and freeze. I would catch up and they would do it again criss-crossing down the path. There was a fence on the right that a few ran towards, and one into, but they didn’t jump over it.  The creek was on the left, with plenty of woodland for them to loose me in, but for about half a mile the chase continued. Me at a constant pace, them scamperering and waiting for me to catch up. Finally the path widened, they pulled over and spread out in the trees to let me pass.

The trail kept winding its way around I felt strong and happy. The path split at a little park, so I went in the direction of what I thought would soon lead me around the pond. Some small birds were mating in the shrubs, and creating quite a racket. I was distracted by my thoughts, the sounds and the beauty, but I never saw the pond. I either passed it or took a wrong turn somewhere. Very abrubtly the trail just ended. It dumped me onto a road. That’s it, trail over. No sign or anything (that I noticed anyway).

I just jumped onto the sidewalk and kept running. I debated turning around and just zig-zagging my way home down the path, but thought better of it. I was sure that I had logged quite a few miles already and was well aware that it was wise for me to start heading home. It seemed to me that if I stayed on the main roads which are direct and straight, I would save myself a little time on the way back.  I didn’t know what road I was on, or which direction I was headed. I just ran to the next intersection and turned onto a road I had never heard of.  You would think that I would have noticed that the streets perpendicular to my path were numbered, and going up rather than down. I didn’t.  I just ran on autopilot. I thought I was headed home, but was very wrong. I started passing signs indicating that I was in Olathe: the Olathe Fire Department, religious schools of Olathe, nothing looked familiar. There is one thing I knew – I live in Overland Park which is the town North of Olathe. Oh shit, I thought, now I had done it.  I jumped into a 7-11 to ask for directions. He confirmed that I had indeed ventured pretty far South and had quite a run home.

I just turned around, and headed East. I still felt strong. I was starting to calculate my distance though, and was doubting that I would be able to make it home.  I had gone about 10 or more miles before turning around.  That means I still had that much ahead of me to get home.  It was getting colder too.  My brain turned against me.  I tried to tell myslef that this was a fun adventure and I could make it home, but I kept hearing a voice inside telling me that I can’t run that far – how could I have gotten myself so turned around…Great.

I trudged down a large 4 lane road surrounded by fields. The landscape here is funny. It is pretty flat, so you don’t have much to reference. Over the fields you can see for what seems like miles. The only building visible all look the same, it is very disorienting.  I passed an airport. I could have  been in another country this area was so foriegn to me. I tried to focus on running. What were my arms doing? How was my stride?  The funniest thing though was that I wasn’t even breathing very hard. I had run further than usual and I actually didn’t feel winded, and my body was still going. I turned down a road that I remembered going under when I was on the trail. The time spent on the trail was much more enjoyable than that on these big roads with cars and exhaust so, I decided to make my way back to the trail. I was relieved when I found the trail. Finally after what now seemed like forever, I was recognizing my surroundings. I could gage how far I was and approximately how much further I had to go.

My mental endurance was cracking before the physical though.  I psyched myself out in the last 5 miles. My achilies tendons were starting to hurt, my fingers were cold. I stopped to stretch and rub my ankles. I walked for a bit, but walking actually hurt more than jogging. So, I jogged.  My pace had considerably slowed. I felt like I was dragging my body forward. Suddenly a biker was taking shape and coming towards me. It was a familiar shape, and I realized it was Jonathan.  He had come out looking for me. I had been gone over 3 hours.  Seeing him, I was suddenly exhausted and ready to give up.  I just wanted to jump on the bike and have him ride me home.  But I didn’t.  He rode home to get the car and meet on the main road so that he could shave the last couple of blocks off of my trip. I beat him to the intersection we were supposed to meet on, so I just kept jogging towards home.  He picked me up 2 blocks from home.  I was cold and tired and ready to collapse when I walked inside. I turned the shower on, but didn’t have the strength to stand up. I just sat there and let the hot water warm my body.  I wasted a lot of water. Finally the water started to turn cold, so I bundled up and crawled into my bed. I passed out for about 2 hours.

I woke up and felt surprisingly good. My muscles were tight, my head was a little woozy (I hadn’t eaten all day), but I was coming to the realization of how far I had run. I think it took getting myself lost to prove that I could run that far.  I have been pretty comforatable jogging a couple of miles at a time, up to about 8.  I still thought of marathon distances as absurd, but I had just coming pretty close to a marathon and I hadn’t even meant to.  That is inspiration for my future runs. Now that I know I can, I want to train harder and longer so that I can do it more gracefully and on purpose.

The star is an approximation of our house just North of where the map ends (and my run began/ends). The red line is the route I took.  The image here is small and hard to read, but I have added the link to the pdf if anyone wants to see it better. overland park trail

Arboretum

Enough is enough. Snow has been on the ground for the last two months and we haven’t made a single trip down a hill on skis or sled, we haven’t put together any snowmen or snow angels. Besides a few snowballs in passing  and windshield scraping, we have all but avoided the snow. Now the snow is begging us to play in it, so we had to get out and play in it before it is gone.

We finally made the trip to the storage unit to find some snow gear. We found two sets of the family snowshoes. It was a chilly 6 degrees outside, but the sun was shining, and the wind was minimal, it was a perfect snow day. We bundled up in many warm layers, packed a lunch, grabbed the snowshoes and headed for Overland Park’s 300-acre Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

We were surprised that there were a few other cars in the parking lot, and even more surprised when we found that the paths were plowed in places, and clear from cross-country skiers and other walkers in place. Why had we waited so long? Apparently these people hadn’t.  Needless to say, the snowshoes were overkill and unnecessary, so we left them in the car.

The arboretum was a much needed dose of nature. The other cars must have been staff or people hanging out in the heated building, because we had the trails all to ourselves. One would think it was our first time in the snow. We literally frolicked down the trails, taking pictures of every limb heavy with snow, every bench buried deep, sculptures poking out stark against their white blanket. Jonathan ventured onto a frozen pond, and climbed around on shade structures.We were like kids running around in the park by ourselves, pointing out the animal tracks, and trying to name all of the birds we saw from the bird-watching station (we  saw cardinals, a couple of varieties of woodpeckers, a few we couldn’t decipher, and lots of sparrows).

The sky was clear and blue, the air was crisp and the snow was bright white. It was invigorating and beautiful, a perfect afternoon. Now that we have located the snowshoes we are excited to break trail after the next snowstorm. Our timing is impeccable though, because the forecast calls for warmer weather, and no snow!