Friendship

It’s a pleasure to see that a lot of the runners in the 7 Hills Running Club have recently jumped into the running blogging community. Our club is lucky to have such a diverse and talented collection of runners. I’m happy that a few of them have joined me to write about what running means in their life and to tell what is happening in their running. You’ll find a link to many great 7 Hills blogs have been added in my blogroll.

After work, I called one of my running friends to see if he was going to go to the trails. He said that he was waiting for his daughter to call as they might grab dinner. After discussing how the sky was looking odd, we decided that I would go on my run and he’d give me a call later in the week.

Once I got to the park I could hear a little thunder in the distance. I decided that I would still run the five mile run as I had discussed with my friend. It’s a quick loop that is covered by a good amount of trees. I figured if any rain began to fall it would be blocked by the canopy overhead. I was wrong.

It didn’t take much time but I was soon drenched with rain. That doesn’t bother me — in fact, I enjoy running in the rain — but I was bothered by the lightening. It was around me in each direction and in very close proximity.  It dawned on me, with about 2 miles left, that I would be out there alone if I was hit by lightening.

I picked up the pace to try to get to some safety. Turning around wasn’t an option because it would be further to go. There aren’t any bail outs on this trail, so I was truly stuck with only one feasible direction to run.

As I turned around the corner on the trail, I saw someone running towards me. It was my friend who had come out to run and decided, with all the lightening, to risk his safety to make sure I made it alright! It revived my spirits and I ran even quicker to make it back to our vehicles.

As we got into our vehicles, he threw me a towel so that I wouldn’t get my interior soaked.  That’s what running friends are for!

Last year on Easter weekend the temperature reached 100 degrees here in Texas. This year we are in the 40s with sleet coming down on us.

I knew that the temperature was going to drop and that there would be rain, so I ran a 7 mile trail yesterday. I met up with a friend from the running club who brought his Jack Russell. I ran that loop quicker than I ever have before coming in at 1:01. It was a tough run but I feel good for going that quick.

Today, I enjoyed the rain from inside.

Despite the rain, I decided that I would go on a quick three or four mile run last night. There was a lull in the rain, so I figured I could miss most of the rain, which I did. I also wanted to try out my new hat and gloves in the colder weather. I’m happy to say that I was so warm that both my hands and head were sweating a little.

After I made it out a mile and half, I decided to turn around and head back in. It was sort of errie at the lake because the only things I saw were the flooded lake and a few random cars parked along the side of the lake. I’m guessing the people inside of them were only there to make out on that somewhat secluded road.

I did have my flashlight with me, so I felt pretty safe, and was going back at a good clip. I was able to see about a 100 feet in front of me a lone runner was coming the opposite direction on the path. When we crossed, he turned around and asked if he could run with me. Of course, I said that I’d be happy to have someone else out with me.

He let me know that he’s training for the Cowtown Marathon in Ft. Worth and was out on an 18 mile run. I think he was also a little lonely out there as there was really nobody running. This wasn’t even late, maybe like 5:45 or 6pm. It was great to have someone come over and decide to run.

Nick, if you happen to run across this, thanks for running with me for a couple miles and best of luck at the marathon.

I said no to the RTR, White Rock Marathon (whatever the sponsor is this year, blah), this year because I haven’t trained enough. I’d be a pathetic walker by the 14th mile and roll in at something like 4.5 hours, so I said no. But then I get tempted because so many other Dallas runners are going to be there and hanging out afterwards. My favorite part of running is the run but a close second is the awesome community. I’m torn about the rock.

I’ve always been the type of runner who enjoys going out alone. When I run, it is the time I have to myself to relax and enjoy the world moving around me. When someone else is running with me there is a distraction I cannot stop. I will say that even though I enjoy running alone; I don’t enjoy being alone on the trails.

Today was like that because there was almost nobody on my running path. I like to see other people as we cross paths so that I can give them a friendly nod and hand wave but today was silence. The wind was blowing hard, the leaves were crackling, and the temperature was a warm 79 degrees. Perhaps this is why people stayed in?

It’s days like these when I wish I had a running buddy.