Choices

Ahh... I am going to miss my long run on Saturday. I mean that in two of the many possible interpretations - miss as in "not be in attendance" and as in "feel the absence of". It is one of my favorites this weekend, the one they lovingly call the "Run from hell, up North". People may be tired of hearing me say it, but I will forever call it by the name Chris christened it with, which is "Left on Mesa".

They call it the Run from Hell, because if you take a cross section from the side, turn it 90 degrees, duplicate it, flip the copy, and then give it an awesome-looking purple-and-black color scheme, it will remind you of the first time you used the lathe in 8th-grade wood shop:

You had spectacular plans for that turning project. It was going to be the most beautiful salad bowl the world had ever seen. The thing you later called a "candlestick" was hellish, indeed. Yes, when I say "you" I mean you. No, I do not mean "me". My Lilliputian baluster was dope.

But, I digress. Certain runners have been known to call me a masochist for enjoying this particular run. Of course, certain non-runners have been known to call me a masochist for enjoying any run, so... it's all relative. I like it. It's scenic. It's interesting. There's always deer and stuff.

Why will I miss (not be in attendance) it? I will be out of town, in a not-really-foreign-but-might-as-well-be-foreign city, where I'd rather not have to make an attempt to wake up early and run eighteen miles on my own. I made that same attempt last summer, and was only about 75% successful.

So this time, I have choices!

The not-likely-to-happen choice: Go run the candlestick on my own. It would require a level of planning and forethought that I'm simply not equipped for that early in the morning. Dropping off water bottles in strategic locations, remembering where I left the water and using it... most of all, not getting lost... I have trouble enough staying on course when there's people to follow and a map in my hand. The only thing I know for certain is that at some point I would make a left a Mesa, and that would be the correct turn (possibly at an incorrect intersection).

The think-about-it choice: Map a simple route from my house to some point about nine miles from here, with at least two public water fountains or convenience stores on it. Bring a water bottle and some cash in a ziploc baggie, and restock on fluids mid-run.

The boring choice: Do a 3-mile out-and-back 6 times and leave some water on the porch. Ummm.. no.

The most-likely-to-happen choice: Have no plan, run aimlessly around areas I am very familiar with until the total is 18 miles, bring a bottle, and take advantage of any water I can find along the way.