WWSD?

Steph and AJ went to the Bahamas this weekend. When they left, I was given the keys to AJ's car, an incredibe act of trust. Steph was the key negotiator in making this occur, motivated because she did not want me to miss my long run over the weekend, an eight mile adventure through the hilly terrain at the Loch Raven Reservoir in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

I set the alarm. I got up and was in the car driving along in plenty of time... except that I forgot I was the one driving. Wrong turn here, missed exit there, as easy as counting to three I was lost, adding about twelve minutes to the time it took me to get to the starting point of the run. I watched my group run past as I drove to the parking spots on the hill. Strike one.

I thought I knew where they were going. We had done the same course last week. A mile up, a mile back, three miles to the dam, three miles back. I figured if I started running the mile up, I would see them running back and I would shave a mile off my run... I'd run seven instead of eight, but that was still a good distance and I'd stay on track with the mileage for the week. Running, running, running... I went the whole mile without seeing them. Strike two.

I turned around at the end of the road and headed back, starting my second mile. My group was from Fleet Feet, where they do the Galloway program. I'm part of the slow group, running 2 minutes, walking 1, averaging 12 minute miles. I knew I wasn't capable of running those hills straight for seven more miles. I knew that given the chance after running for a while, I would walk as much as I wanted. I didn't have a watch. Was running the eight mile course with no company, no music, no watch, and no way of regulation of steps even worth it? I'd even have to approximate mileage based on last week. Surely, trying was something for which I should be credited. It seemed like a valid strike three, but my mind kept coming back to this question--

What Would Stephanie Do?

I didn't have to ask. There is no way that Stephanie would have stopped running, or accepted any of those excuses. Barring a broken bone, there would not have been a reason to quit without doing the entire course.

So I kept going... I counted steps, hitting between 120 - 160 running steps to every 30 - 60 walking steps. It was a completely inaccurate adaptation of the program, but one that kept me running the 66% of the time. During the most difficult stretch of the course, I crossed paths with my group--they were headed down hill and I was headed up. A guy from the group joined me for the last few miles; I was grateful for the company and another form of regulating steps. Even though he didn't have a watch either, he kept me running until the end.

Guilt, pride, satisfaction played a part today in getting about eight miles logged in... and Stephanie was happy I did it, which made me happy, too.


Time: about 1:35
Place: Loch Raven/Ness Monster Run
Weather: 40s
Distance: about 8
Feeling: Guilt is a very powerful motivator.
Overall grade: around a B