Go, you chicken fat, go away!

2019 Ragnar Chase the Moon (Ragnar #30)

This really isn't a race.  But it's a Ragnar event and I want to keep track of all the Ragnar events I do which include road relays, trail relays, and other special events such as this one.  The only thing you had to do was run 6.7 miles under the stars and the moon.  Mission accomplished.  I had my doubts since I'm not in great shape and haven't run that far in a while.  Still, it's not really that far.  Right?  Anyway, let's get on with the report.

I ate dinner around 7pm.  I've been trying to eat good today.  I had a hamburger with mayo, ketchup, mustard, avocado, cheese, tomato, and onion.  Lot of onion.  I love onions.  Then I sat on the couch because I wanted to wait 'til 9pm before I left.  My daughter started a movie.  It wa M. Night Shamlamadingdong's The Visit.  Just the type of scary movie you want to watch before going on a run in the dark.  The movie finished right after 9pm and I started my running at 9:27pm.  I brought my headlamp with me, but the full moon provided adequate lighting.  I kept it nice and slow because I had all night to finish.

As I approached Brown Road I could hear this funny noise coming from the Floodway.  I stopped when I got right by it.  I have no idea what it was.  My best guess is it was ducks snoring.  I took a video of it so I could post it on Facebook in case anyone knows what it is.  I'll report back. I continued running without incident.  When I got half a mile from McKellips I could see a bright light up ahead on the RWCD road.  Couldn't be a zanjero.  It was just one light.  Doubtful it's a runner.  Light was too bright.  Must be a cyclist.  Well the closer I got to McKellips, the further away the light went.  It seemed to have gone away all together, but then I would see it again.  I thought it strange, but then Detective McCumber put the pieces together and realized they must've turned around at McKellips and headed back north.  I could see the light shining on various parts of the Canal like a flashlight.  So now I was following it.  Right before I got to half a mile from McDowell, the light got bright again, meaning it was now headed back towards me.  I kept running towards it when finally it got close enough that I could see a pair of legs also running towards me.  But then the light got real bright and it was headed right at me.  I thought, "Surely you can see me.  Why don't you move over?"  They finally moved over and Detective McCumber once again was able to deduce that it was a man on a bicycle riding with his wife who was running, and their family dog.  The dog was not leashed and the man was riding straight towards me in an effort to keep the dog from approaching me.  They told me good evening, and I continued on.  I got to McDowell which is about 2.8 miles, and I took my first drink from my water bottle.  I decided to run up to 3.3 miles and turn around.   I would make up the extra one tenth of a mile by swinging around to the Walgreen's sign and taking a picture of the time and temperature.

I watched my phone as I was getting close to the turn around point.  I was not quite to Junior (the RWCD pump at the 1/2 lateral.)  I turned around and took another swig, texted my wife to let her know I was heading back.  She texted me back to be careful.  Pfft!  Yeah right!  I jogged back, and it was pretty uneventful.  I saw a couple of owls sitting on top of electric poles.  I was just counting down the half miles which is easy to do with the canal gates.  Now I was running towards the moon.  It was nice even though I was tired and it was hot.  As I got to Greenfield I could see a pair of headlights coming down the west RWCD road.  A zanjero?  Who else would it be?  A tresspasser?  I went down and took my picture of the sign.  It was 87º, but it was 91º  when I passed it the first time.  I could tell that it was a zanjero, and I did a 180 and went back to the Canal road.  I looked in the truck, and I'm pretty sure it was Rick.  I waved at him, but I didn't stop to talk, because I wasn't 100% sure it was him and I didn't want to freak him out.  Now I was a mile away from home and I knew that I should be right on with my predicted miles.  I ran passed the snoring ducks again.  I got to the stop sign which I know is a tenth of a mile from my house and Strava showed 6.6 miles.  I decided to do one loop around the cul-de-sac just to make sure.  I don't trust Strava when it only shows you to the tenth while you're running.  I ended up with 6.76 miles.  Now I'm home and everyone's asleep.  They couldn't even wait up for me.