I'm sure we all remember that scene from National Lampoon's European Vacation - you know, the one where they get stuck driving in a roundabout in England?
Well, that's a lot like how my 18-mile long run went on Sunday. Except the dialogue (um, monologue?) was more like: Look, the newspaper delivery man! ... Look, the newspaper delivery man! ...
You see, I took a little trip to visit my parents this weekend and not being terribly familiar with the area, I wanted to keep my run confined to a reasonably small area in order to avoid getting lost, kidnapped, or having to carry water with me. I stashed water and Sharkies at my parents' house and ran a 3-mile loop through their subdivision a total of six times, like running laps on a very convoluted track.
I began my run before the break of dawn, at 5:30am. The neighborhood was quiet and peaceful - it was very serene. As the sun started to break over the horizon, more people came out of their homes to walk their dogs, water their flowers, and get in their cars to go to church. Everyone waved a friendly hello. This subdivision is a gated community and they don't like nonresidents roaming about the streets unsupervised, so I was a little concerned that someone might call security on me. Fortunately, nobody seemed very worried by my presence on the streets. Over and over and over.
Look kids, the crazy runner girl!... Look kids, the crazy runner girl!... Hey kids...
Most of the people I saw on my run, I only saw once. But I saw the newspaper delivery man at least four times (I lost count). I'm not sure if he thought I was stalking him... or if he thought that I thought that he was stalking me. I did get the feeling that at one point he was going to pull over, hand me a bag of newspapers and ask me to help him deliver them. Which I would've been happy to do, for a small fee.
Despite the fact my run was filled with moments of déjà vu, it ended up being a very good run. The route was essentially flat, which was a nice change from my usual hilly routes. (The graph makes it look a lot hillier than it was - the difference between the low and high point is only about 35 feet.)
I was able to finish strong, even as the summer sun got higher in the sky. I was hoping to finish my 18 miles in under 3:30, and indeed, I did. In fact, I finished in under 3:20. I was very pleased with that.
And I'm pretty sure I could've finished in under 3:30 even if I had to deliver newspapers. Because I'm a good multi-tasker like that.
*happily tosses newspapers into everyone's driveways while running and chewing Sharkies*
*trips and falls, newspapers flying everywhere*
Uhhhh... Okay, maybe not.
Peace. Love. Train.
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