Wandering in the desert

 

Let's go back eight months ago. To March 2015. My first trail run. A last minute decision to do a half marathon at White Tank Mountains with Aravaipa Running. Had no clue what I was getting into. Just needed to get out and run. This from the bloke who just 3 years and 8 months ago could not run down a regular city block.

That run hurt like hell! 13.1 miles of misery. Almost dropped the motorcycle a couple of times on the way back home. Me life was a mess and I was making it worse. But there was something refreshing about the pain, the views, being in the back country that words cannot express. I was hooked.

So today was to be my 2nd 50K completed. But it was not to be so. I have this thing about getting lost when on the run. And the run today was going so well. For the first 9 miles held an average of around 11 minute per mile. Everything felt great. Well... Sorta. I knew during the first accent and decent that the kicks I chose to tackle Pass Mountain were the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight. But my spirit was high. Heart rate low. Legs felt fresh!

But then I decided to do my impression of Mosses and wander around in the desert adding a little over 2 miles to my first lap.  When I realized I was off the course, my spirit and heart sank just a little.  But the question was going to be how far off the course I went.

It took about 3 miles for me to confirm that I had lost my mid pack pace and dropped myself dead last in the 50K group.  It would be near mile 16 before I realized how much I had set myself back.  Between miles 16 and 17 was when I decided that today was not the day to complete my 2nd Ultra.

It wasn't a sad moment.  I wasn't disappointed.  It was in fact what it was.  "Life Happens."

I've had a lot of experiences with life happening and that's why this is the perfect first post for my running blog.

See it was a little over three years ago when I discovered I was near death from high blood pressure.  Letting the stress of work and life overtake me.  I couldn't jog more than 20 yards before being out of breath.  You wouldn't now it looking at me.  Always a little fellow.  Gramps called me "Pee Wee" because I was so small and skinny.  Thus my pseudonym "lil honu" (lil' sea turtle).

I've  been running a lot since then.  Well not as much as I want, but a lot for my age and the lack of time I actually have to devote to this new found passion.

I'm not the fastest.  I'm not the smartest.  But I'm determined to be the best me that I know.  I'm not there yet.  I'll never be there, but I'll be damned if I don't try.

So today was not a loss.  It was a victory.  Got to see some awesome back country.  Got an awesome workout.  Provided me with the time to get all of this up and running finally.

Sometimes it takes being lost in the desert to find the treasure within; guess I need to keep looking.  Run review up tomorrow.  Remember be good and do you.