I am currently a snot factory and I feel like I'm coughing up nothing but snot. (Such a pretty picture I know) and breathing has been something of a challenge lately.
I also feel slightly in a funk and not my normal bouncy, happy self.
So what do I do to feel better?
I go for a run of course!
I fortified myself with allergy meds, used my inhaler, and drank half a cup of coffee (caffeine helps!). Then, I packed my sports bra with my phone, my inhaler, my mp3 player, my key card, and some tissues (hey, big boobs means a big sports bra means more room to stuff things in). I looked a little box-ish up there as I was leaving, but whatever. You never know when you're going to need something.
There is a nature trail around here that is about 2 miles long and I decided to aim for that. My hotel room is about half a mile from the trail so I just walked halfway there and jogged the second half for a warm up.
I got to the trail and it is quite inviting looking and I was all excited to run it. (See...I was already using my phone to take pretty pictures!)
This trail is really wide, nicely shaded, nothing too hardcore looking about it. Am I right? You see this path and it almost invites you to follow it. I was really excited about it.
I start off down the trail, and although I'm having some issues breathing and my ears feel a little clogged, it's actually kind of nice. (You know, once I got past hacking up my left lung and blew a few snot rockets it was pretty nice).
I passed a sign telling me I was a 1/4 of the way through the trail and it had been relatively uneventful. The trail itself got really narrow (only about 6" across in places, but I wasn't having to dodge too many obstacles to stay on the trail so it wasn't a big deal). There was mostly grass or long weeds on the sides of the trail, so even if I went off trail, I wasn't really endangering myself.
Then, I came to a fence. The fence spanned the width of the trail. However, it had a gate that easily opened, and there was no sign telling me to stay out, so I took it to mean I could just go through the gate, (I figured they were trying to block animals? I don't know. People in the south are weird).
But then the path turned evil. It was super fun. But evil none the less.
I didn't really get a chance to take any pictures. I was too busy trying to stay ON the trail. The trail was still about 6" across at points, but it was also half way sloped down a drop into the river, or into a ravine with dead trees with branches sticking out ready to impale you. There were roots all across the path you had to dodge and not trip over (actually, at one point they were quite helpful and made a natural stair case up the path so that was nice).
And the other side of the path was a wall of trees. So there was no room to err on the side of caution because instead of falling off the side into the ravine, you'd run head first into a tree. The path was your only option.
I was kind of wishing I owned trail shoes at that point.
Once, I got around the first ravine (I ran the whole thing...I wanted to get out as quickly as possible), the path widened a bit again and while it was still difficult and obstacle laden, I didn't fear for my life. Instead, I just feared my legs might collapse from under me because they were so tired of climbing/sliding/etc and the easy run I had promised myself at the beginning of the trail had been anything but. (At the same time, I was having a really good time. It's always fun to surprise yourself with a much harder workout than you anticipated).
I came to this and finally had to stop and take a picture because really, there was no physical way I was going to run across, around, or over this.
Pretty cool huh?
Sadly, this picture doesn't really do it justice (hi cell phone camera!). It looks like the trees are kind of one behind the other but all on the ground. But they're not. That was about a 4 foot high wall of trees/logs/whatever that spanned about 6 feet across. It completely blocked the path and was not the most stable of obstacles.
I finally managed to climb over and around the one side and got back on the trail, but at this point my legs were tired and I was almost to the end of the trail (which ended at the golf clubhouse). I decided I couldn't run back the way I had come (My legs were tired and I wasn't sure I was capable of running back by the ravine and not falling off), so I was just going to take the main road back to the hotel.
However, clubhouses should NOT be two miles in the middle of nowhere with no signs pointing out which direction towards the hotel. (Actually, I know nothing about golf. Maybe they should be?)
Anyways, this is where my phone came in handy! Again! (See...you should ALWAYS pack your phone in your bra when running). I pulled it out and asked for walking directions back to my hotel and then ran the 2.5 miles back.
In total, I'd say the loop was about 4.5 miles, but I probably only ran about 2.5-3 miles of the loop. However, I feel much better and much less in a funk, so it was worth it. Now if only my nose would clear up I'd be gravy.
*Cee-Lo Green
Perhaps the gate meant "stay out."
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