Raymond Road Run

I was lazy yesterday and didn't get out of bed in time to get in a run before I had to be at work for an early meeting. I suppose these are the times when a treadmill would be useful, as I couldn't quite convince myself to get out for an after-work, in the dark, evening run either. Oh well.

To make up for yesterday's missed run, I decided to get in a longer run this morning. I headed out a little after 7am from the field house to do the Raymond Road loop. The sun was still low on the horizon and most of my run was spent down in the shadows. I was reminded, however, of how much I like the stretch in this run along Pleasant Hill Road, as when I crested the hill by Crystal Spring Farms, the early morning sun was bathing the fields in soft light. A flock of starlings flew up from the fields in a big cloud, cascading back down on the bare branches of one of the oak trees at the edge of the pasture. A small bush of red winterberries shone in the sunlight. A beautiful morning.

Temps were in the low 30s, so it was quite pleasant out, and it wasn't terribly windy. The only bad part of the run was that on several occasions I was passed by short convoys of dump-type trucks, which kicked up sand and dust and grit into my face. ugh. Ah, road running :-)

I felt like I was working throughout the run, but finished off the 8-mile loop in the pretty quick (for me!) time of 1:05. That may have been why it felt like work! My right calf/IT band is very tight, however. I think it might be time to see if our friend Shannon can do a bit of massaging magic on that leg!