Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Just guessing on my distance based off previous entries.  My Runkeeper went crazy and showed I ran 2.2 miles.  The nice thing about it was that it showed my pace in the low 8's.  Ah, maybe some day again.  Anyway, I saw another coyote.  It looked a lot like the last one I saw.  I hate to sound racist, but they all look alike to me.

Today I got up way earlier than normal to go running with a couple of guys on my Ragnar team, Mike and John at 5:45am.  Sounds like a radio show.  I thought it might be cold, so I grabbed a light jacket.  It was lightly sprinkling.  Very lightly.  But it wasn't cold at all.  In fact, it was kind of warm in the long-sleeved Ragnar Trail T-shirt I was wearing.  I also had on my reflective vest and my headlamp as we headed up our favorite hill, Usery Pass.  Since I've barely run in forever, I knew I wouldn't make it to the top.  I decided to turn around at the halfway point.  I could still see John and Mike's red LED lights blinking in the distance when I turned around.  Going down was a lot easier.  I had a 5 minute negative split.  I was surprised at how many other runners and cyclists were out this morning so early and so dark out.  Anyway, I ran down the street a little and turned around so that I could get an even 4 miles in.  I knew if they continued to the top it would be a 7.3 mile round trip for them.  Since it was warm and I was sweaty I decided it would be a nice idea to take my reflective vest and Ragnar Trail T-shirt off, and I would don my jacket when they got back.   After removing said items, I realized that I have recently shaved a V into my chest hair and thought it would be embarrassing for them to see.  So I tried just putting my reflective vest back on.  It was sweaty and gross and it didn't cover any of the V.  So I put my sweaty Ragnar Trail T-shirt back on.  Blech.

My GPS wigged out on me again right towards the end.  Threw an extra 0.16 miles on.  Maybe if I ask it nicely to stop doing that.

I'm slow.  But I go.

I wasn't feeling good today.  A bit of a headache when I started that went away before I finished running.  But mostly my back was sore.  And my legs.  So, just a small run today.

It rained most of the day yesterday and was raining pretty good when I went to sleep.  I was 90% sure the guys I had planned on going running with this morning would call it off.  But it wasn't raining at 5am so they came and picked me up.  I set my alarm for 4:45am.  I was half expecting a text that they were going to cancel, so I went back to sleep and woke up about 5:08am.  There was no text, so I got dressed and made a pee pee.  Unfortunately I did not make a poo poo.  In my haste to get out the door at 5:15 am (Mike and John were there exactly when they planned on), I forgot my headlamp hanging on the rack right next to the door.  I remembered about half a mile down the street, but I wasn't about to ask them to drive back because last week John said he had a meeting to go to today, and I figured any lost time might make him late.  We drove to the parking lot next to the Sherriff's station and the Salt River tube rentals where we always park when we run Usery Pass.  As soon as I stepped out of the truck I knew I wasn't going to make it very far now that my bowels had woken up.  Mike had given me the keys because last week I turned around early and had to wait about 30 minutes before they got back.  I told them to start without me and I would catch up.  I searched Mike's truck for some TP and I found some fancy napkins from the Melting Pot.  I went over to the bathrooms at the tube rentals, which are always locked at this time of year, but I hoped for a miracle.  Of course they were locked.  Now I had to wander out into the wilderness and find a bush.  With the light of my cell phone I found a place that looked like it was safe from wild horses and coyotes.  I'm not an expert at the pop a squat so I ended up taking off my shorts and underwear just to be safe.  Safe from soiling them, not necessarily safe from wild animals.  Anyway, I did my business, which was gross.  It seems things didn't quite solidify as they should have.  I guess that's what happens when you wake up that early.  Thank goodness the Melting Pot has top quality napkins.  Putting my clothes back on proved to be a challenge since I didn't take off my shoes.  I got the first leg in without a problem.  I had a feeling leg #2 wouldn't be so easy.  Sure enough my foot didn't find the hole.  And of course I couldn't get it out in time to maintain my balance.  Down I went.  Luckily I was away from the, well, you know.  I stuck my second leg though my underwear and shorts, pulled them half way up, brushed the dirt off my bum, finished pulling them up, and I was now finally ready to go.  I figured Mike and John had a 15 minute headstart on me now.  And since they're faster than I am, I started doing the math and estimated that I would be about 2.5 to 2.6 miles into my run when I would see them running back down the mountain.  I decided that when I saw them, I would hand one of them the keys so that they could just pick me up when they were done.  Right at 2.54 miles I saw their headlamps and I handed Mike the keys and told him to come pick me up.  I would just keep running straight.  He said, "Ok."  It was later that I realized he had no idea what I had told him, and he thought I was playing a joke on him.  So his, "Ok" was indeed sarcasm.  I started doing more math in my head to estimate at what point in my run they would catch up to me to pick me up.  I figured it would be somewhere between 5.25 miles and 5.50 miles.  My goal was to make it to the top which is 3.7 miles.  I was glad I would make it because I would then have some downhill.  Well, right around 5.15 a guy was running towards me.  He was wearing all black and no lights or reflective gear.  He was literally 5 steps away from me before I saw him.  I had my vest on at least, so I'm sure he saw me before I saw him.  Anyway, I decided that I should call Mike to see where he was at and to let him know that if they saw that guy, don't stop because it's not me.  I ask Mike, "Where are you at?"  He says, "You want us to pick you up?"  I said, "Yeah!  Didn't you hear me??"  He made a joke about hearing me but wanted me to run extra.  Then he said, "No, I didn't hear you."  So, they drove up to get me, and I got to run more than I expected.  I felt bad because I didn't want to make John late.  Hopefully he got to his meeting on time.  Well, I'm sure I'll be nice and sore for a few days.  I am happy with the run.  My pace was slightly slower than last week, but that's a good thing since I went all the way to the top this time.  Have a great weekend, everyone.

It's my month again to do security at the church.  This is the first time I ran this month to the church.  It was raining.  Not too bad.  I'm absolutely positive I sweat more than it rains.  No matter how hard it rains.

Ran to the church again and back.  It was kind of cold.

I'm not sure of the exact distance I went because my GPS wasn't working quite right again.  I think it happens when I don't wait a minute for my Runkeeper to completely locate me.  Then it spends the rest of the run trying to find me.

Anyway, Mike, John, and I went to Usery again.  It was John's turn to drive.  Alyssa was supposed to meet us there, too, but she slept in.  I had gotten up nice and early so that I wouldn't have a repeat of last week.  Plus we left a half an hour later.  It was a little colder this week, so I brought some sweat pants and an extra long sleeved shirt.

We were about to start and I realized I forgot to start my Runkeeper.  I turned it on real fast and as soon as it said Good GPS, we started.  John and Mike took off pretty fast today.  I guess they're getting in shape faster than I am.  After about a quarter mile I saw an awesome shooting start go blazing across the sky.  I yelled, "Wow!"  I was still within range for the two of them to hear me, and I see their red blinky LED lights fade and their headlamps brighten as they turned their heads to make sure I was all right.  I asked the if they saw the shooting star.  Mike said they did.  I said, "That was awesome!" 

Right around mile 1 I heard a coyote howl.  It must've been 200 yards from me.  Then I heard another one answer it probably 5 or 600 yards away.  That, too, was awesome.  After a little bit I could only see one LED light ahead of me.  It seemed closer than what I would have thought it should be and I wondered if either Mike or John was walking.  At about 2.5 miles I see a headlamp coming towards me.  I think to myself, "That can't be one of my guys.  Surely, they couldn't have made it to the top yet."  Indeed it was Mike.  He told me he was going back down.  He wasn't feeling good.  I asked if it was his ankle that he mentioned was aching before we started.  He said he was cramping.  I spent most of the run hoping he was ok.

Around mile 3.2 I see John coming back towards me.  He asks if I had seen Mike.  I told him he had turned around.  I was wondering if I should turn around with him, but at this point I was maybe a little more than half a mile from the top, so I kept going.  I got to the top where I saw my first and only cyclist of the day.  I turned around knowing that even though I was sore, the rest was all downhill.

I love downhill.  I just put in neutral and let gravity take over.  Around 5.75 miles I started wondering whether or not they would come and try to find me because last week I kept running straight.  Sure enough they picked me up at mile 6.  Which means John was able to run 7.3 miles and get in his suburban and pick me up in the amount of time it took me to run 6.  But I'm ok with that.  It's now 6:30pm as I write this, and I'm a little bit sore, but not too bad.  I'm optomistic about having a good Ragnar this year.

Didn't have time to do more.  But I felt great.  I took my daughter to the Sun's game tonight.  They got slaughtered.