Bradbury Run and Visit with Amy

Headed over to Bradbury this morning for a run. It was cool, but still pretty muggy as I ran out onto the mountain side of the BBU course. I ran up the Ski Trail and onto Krista's - man, there were a lot of mushrooms out there, but no fawn this time. Then out onto the Connector and over the pretty stream, through the woods and down to Lawrence Road. On the way back, I stopped along the fields to pick some blueberries - yum! Then, back to the park, where I saw a hawk (broad tail?) fly through the trees along the Connector, and then down (and back up) Lunchbreak. I got to the parking lot with my Garmin reading 10.4. I was soaked, and although I was feeling pretty decent, my head was not in the right place.

All through the run, while I should have been enjoying the woods and the run and the fact that I had the day off, I kept thinking back and forth about the BBU and should I do it, do I want to do it, is this a good pace, do I need to get in another 50 this year, why do I feel I need to do another 50 this year, what about the training, hasn't been ideal, could I get in the miles, did I want to get in the miles. Blah! Sometimes I drive myself nuts!

I sat down on one of the picnic tables and sent a return text to Dana, who had texted to say Irene was going home from the hospital - hurray!! - and called Ryan to tell him my mind wasn't quite in the game today. I really was unenthused about more miles. I told him I was giving up on thoughts of the BBU for the year. I have been going back and forth about it for a while now, and every time I think about it, I feel a bit stressed. In this case, being able to run the trails because they are nearby has meant I feel I have to run the trails and get to know the course and it has sucked some of the fun out of last week's and today's run. Sorry, Val and Mindy :(, but I think I will just be enjoying this year's race as a spectator/helper at Ryan's aid station with Sam. Perhaps it is just too soon after TARC and my mind isn't ready to tackle the process of running another big race. I'm not sure but this attitude isn't the way to go into a 50, or even the training. I just don't have the excitement I need. Ryan, ever the wise one about these things and the talk me off a ledge keeper of my sanity, said, fine, no pressure, you don't have to run BBU, just go out and run a few more miles. So I ran myself across the street and did part of the Bruiser course, running the Island and Lanzo and the left-side of Ginn before turning onto the Snowmobile Trail and taking that and Knight Woods back in. Got in a good 16 miles in a few minutes over 3:00 and some good hills too!

I cleaned myself up, stopped at Pineland to get myself something to eat and pick up some extra goodies, and made my way over to Amy's to hang out for a few hours. I found her in pretty good spirits and seeming pretty good, all things considered, and we had fun chatting and catching up. It was fun to see her, even if tough to see her in bed with the foot all wrapped up. It is very painful for her right now, I know, but I was impressed with how well she seemed to be handling it. Of course, I brought donuts too, so that always helps ;)