Getting More Than I Bargained For

This morning, I shifted my run westward a couple of miles. I started at Sheridan this time, and I ran west toward Riverside. My purpose in making the shift was to hit the hill out by what I think is Lewis? (There is no Creek exit there, and no street signs, but the crossing road terminates south of the bridge with a gated community.) Of course, I hit the short, sharp incline between Sheridan and Yale right away and continued on across the stretch of the trail that, it seems, I always stop short of, both in my runs with the Runner's World group (from the west) and my own weekday training runs (from the east). I began rethinking my decision to continue working on this stretch of the trail, because once I crossed Yale, it was not offering the challenge I was looking for. Keep in mind, I was running west on the trail as these thoughts were going through my head.

So I hit the sharp decline of the hill at the mystery street bridge and continued on to the bathrooms near Riverside where I turned around. Now, time to run up the hill at the mystery street. That's always tough. Crossed over the highway and headed east again. As I ran, I realized why the run west was not overly challenging--I had been running on a gradual downhill for much of the western stretch. This was made abundantly clear to me as I would peer ahead running east and think to myself, "Am I still going uphill? I don't remember this on the way out!" Anyway, it was a good run. Nice to hit a long, steady hill. I'm sure Kansas City is going to have plenty of these, so I was glad to have discovered this stretch.

On Saturday morning, I ran with the Runner's World group for the first time since before OKC. It was great to see the old group again, and I was surprised at the number of faces I did not recognize. Ran with Daryl and his friend Dennis (about whom I have heard much, but had not met until Saturday). Caught up with Daryl for 2 miles and then we parted ways. I was able to eek out 8 not so easy miles. I will really miss being at the kickoff run this coming Saturday, and then again the Saturday following, but I think that running on the beaches of a secluded Florida peninsula will soothe the sadness sufficiently.

6-1-09
Distance: 6.05
Time: 52:22
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:39

5-30-09
Distance: 8.25
Time: 1:15:43
Avg. Mile Pace: 9:10