Day 18- A Day Off

No, not a day off from running. A day off from work.

If there's one thing I know how to do well (I'd like to think there are several) it's taking a day off of work.

I have so many thing to catch up on here at the house. I'm ignoring them all.

Rose early to get the daughter to swim practice and feed the boys. After catching up on our Simpsons' episodes (Thank you Hulu.) and delivering them to their mom's, I was set for an action packed day off.

First up... a nap.

Next on the agenda, a nice relaxing run.

I'm probably lucky to be alive to enjoy this holiday considering the dog was not pleased with me having run without her yesterday. Not pleased at all. Not pleased to the point that when I woke up late last night, I caught her sitting bedside, inches from my face, eyeing my jugular.

So, I was taking the dog... for sure.

I'm lucky to live just a few miles from one of the best cross country courses in the Midwest. I've been to dozens of races there, but before today had never run on the course myself.

A day off is the perfect opportunity to right just such a wrong.

Watching a cross country race is an exciting experience. The competition and drive of the runners is absolutely contagious. And inspiring. And apparently amnesia-inducing.

200 yards past the start, and I had no idea which way to go. I've seen thousands of runners attack this course. Now that I'm on it, I am lost.

That takes some doing on this course. It's meticulously manicured, even in the dead of winter. There are friggin' sign posts for 5K and 3K courses. But evidently there's a sign missing. Or more likely there's a turn or a bend that is so obviously the way to go that a sign isn't needed. Obvious to everyone but me.

Barely a mile into the course and I see a 3mile post. I'm not even close.

The dog and I decide to just cover the course as we saw fit.

It's great to get off of the roads and onto grass. Portions of the course are still hard frozen. There's a touch of snow here and there. There are even some downright sloppy bits. But the rolling hills and soft surface are just what the doctor ordered for a couple of tired legs.

We finished short of my planned 5K, but neither of us seemed to care.

We were warm. We were dirty.

It had been a good run.

Next up, left over pizza, an adult beverage, and a replay of the Formula One Turkish Grand Prix (thank you Speed TV).

Then, maybe another nap.

Numbers: 2.8 miles at 8:35 pace. Forgot to mention last week that the Garmin GPS watch is back in service. Was just a really dead battery.