Twelve and a Lesson

Ryan joined me for my run today. The plan was for 12 miles, and he was going to show me some of the trails along his "Awesome Topsham" loop which I haven't yet been on. However, things did not quite go as planned. About 1.25 miles into the run, Ryan stopped to stretch his leg. His IT Band was tight, as it has been the past few days. Then we stopped a little later to stretch again. I could tell it was bothering him so I told him he should turn around and go home, no use aggravating it further. He did not like my suggestion. I could tell his stride was off. I said something again. Things got testy. He eventually stopped right around 2 miles, angrily muttering at me, and telling me to go on. And yes, yes, after 11 years of being married to the man, I should have known he was not really angry at me, but frustrated and angered by not being able to do what he wanted to do. But, instead I took his last words to heart, and let my emotions get the best of me. And in doing so, rather than stopping for a few extra minutes to talk things through like I should have, I took off to continue my run, angry that he was angry with me. I didn't realize it at the time, but he ended up walking home. Sigh. I like to think of myself as a pretty good person, who makes mostly rational decisions, but today, I let my emotions take control when I should have known better, and in doing so, left my poor hubby to walk back home on his own. I really hate it when I don't do the right thing. And I feel really badly that Ryan ended up walking home alone. It was not what I intended. I guess the lesson is that I always have something to learn, and I should always work to be a better person. Hopefully I'll make a better decision next time around. Sorry Ryan.

After we parted ways, I revised my route and headed out to the dump, came back on the powerlines and took the back road into Highland Green. From there, I ran down along the river on the Cathance Trails and back home. The river was beautiful today. Along some of the flat, mellow sections, the river had frozen over, and all was peaceful. Then, just a few turns away, the water was raging over the rocks, flowing over the frozen rocks. Ice was built up along the banks and there were a few sections of frozen foam too, which was sort of neat. I had two neat bird sightings - in the woods near the dump, a Pileated Woodpecker flew across the trail to a nearby tree; and as I ran along the Highland Green road, a Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead. Other than that, the woods were quiet.