I tried something different for my long run today, and learned (hopefully) a lesson or two. My
15 year old daughter Brittany was involved in a handcart trek
experience this week. We found out mid-week that parents were invited
to be there Saturday morning. They talked a lot during the trek about
the Willie and Martin handcart companies. Just after the leaders talked
of the rescue parties that came to save the pioneers, the parents came
walking in. The leaders then talked of how the youth can look to their
parents as rescuers to help them when life seems too hard to go on. It
turned out really well and was a great experience for the youth and for
us parents. We also got to eat breakfast with them, help pack up their
camp for the last time, and trek the last mile or so with them and then
take them home. I missed my normal Saturday morning long run, and
my wife Karen missed a niece's baby shower for which her sister had
flown in from Arizona, but we have no regrets. We made the right choice
to be with Brittany. Karen went and spent most of the rest of the day
with her sister and they had a great time. I ran some errands and then
went into work for a couple of hours. I decided to do my long run
starting from work later in the evening when it cooled down. About
6:30 pm I headed to the fitness center. To my surprise, my clothes I
had put in the fitness center laundry on Wednesday were not in my
locker as they should have been. I eventually found them as I sorted
through a basket behind the reception desk. It was after 7:00pm before
I finally got started with my run. It was still around 80 degrees.
I had decided I would run south to my sister Katherine's house
in Mapleton, which was about 14-15 miles round trip. I sometimes
struggle with bowel issues running in the evening, so I took a path
that took me past the house in Springville I was raised in (where my
nephew now lives) at about mile 5 in case I needed to make a stop.
I had forgotten it was Art City Days in Springville, and
unexpectedly ran into and through the carnival downtown. My mile splits
for the first five miles were 8:28, 8:31, 8:23, 8:34, and 8:44. These
were mostly level miles. The next 2.25 miles as I climbed into Mapleton
were a little more uphill and I slowed to around a 9:10/mi average. As
I was approaching my sister's house I was feeling the need for a bio
break and was thinking how well my plan had worked out. This was the
last time I thought this during this run. As I came to her house I saw
an empty driveway. My brother-in-law is a cabinet builder and their garage is a
workshop (they always park in the driveway), and the house was dark, so
I knew they weren't home. Fortunately, there is a gas station at the
next intersection, so I stopped there for my bio break. I was
actually still feeling pretty good at this point and decided to add a
couple of miles to my run by running farther into Mapleton towards the
mountains before turning back north and beginning the return trip. The
siren song of the beautiful summer evening was calling me. I eventually
ended up on the last road that connects Mapleton to Springville before
going up Hobble Creek canyon. The extra mile or two I was going to add
to my run ended up being 2.7 miles one way, all gradual uphill (average
pace 9:50/mi). This is where things began to fall apart. First, I realized I had turned my 14-15 mile run into a 19-20 mile run.
Next, I noticed the sun was about to set. I would be running in
the dark most of the rest of the way and wouldn't finished until nearly
10:00 pm. That's about when I noticed that my middle toes on my
right foot were feeling a little weird. It wasn't really pain, but I
figured I needed to take my shoe off and see what was going on in there
before it got worse. I looked for a good place to sit, and not finding
one, ended up sitting down on the side of the road. As I took my shoe
off, I was surprised to see a bloody sock and then bloody toes. My
toenails weren't long, but there was a sharp corner on the left edge of
my middle toe that had pierced a small hole in the longer toe to its
left. A pair of nail clippers and a bandaid would have been real handy
about now. If I could have reached my toenail to my mouth I would have
tried chewing the sharp edge off. As I put my shoe on and got up,
it hurt to walk, but hurt a little less to run so I continued jogging
towards the main road up Hobble Creek canyon. It was already nearly
dark, and I figured I still had 5-7 miles to go, so I decided to abort
the run. Fortunately I was smart enough to carry my cell phone on this
run (but not a bandaid...duh). The only problem was my wife had one car
with her at her sister's son's house in Kearns , and I had the other one
parked at work, so my 18 year old son Adam had no way to rescue me (as
he did last year on a 20 miler, but that's another story). I finally
decided to call my 20 year old son Andrew who lives in an apartment
near UVSC. He was home and agreed to come to my rescue. I continued to
jog as I told him where I was. When I hung up I realized that my
toe was no longer hurting me. I almost called him back, but it was
still getting dark, I didn't know how long before it would start
hurting again, and I figured it would make him feel good to rescue me
anyway. I had told him to just come up 400 South until he found me, so
I decided I would see how far I could get before he got to me. I ended
up making it another 2.75 miles (avg 9:44/mi), and he picked me up near
Reams and drove me back to work. Aside from the toe, I was still
feeling pretty good, and kind of wish I could have completed the whole
run. I may try it again sometime when I have a better plan, and have a
bandaid with me, and have trimmed my toenails a little better. When
I got back to the fitness center to shower, there was quite a bit more
blood on my sock and toes than the first time I looked. I felt better
about the decision to abort. I enjoyed the shower and actually felt
pretty good as I got dressed. I was pretty hungry, though, and I knew
Karen wouldn't be home until probably after midnight, so I decided on
Fazoli's for dinner. I called Andrew to see if he was hungry, and ended
up dropping some Fettucine Alfredo and breadsticks by his apartment to
say 'thank you'. Today didn't turn out quite as planned, but
as I've discovered in life, sometimes what happens, even with some bad
mixed in, ends up being maybe even better than what was planned. I
really enjoyed being with my wife and daughter and the others at the trek this morning. I got some good work done in the afternoon, I enjoyed the part of the run I completed, I still managed to get
in over 13 miles, with some good uphill miles which I needed, at an
average pace of 9:10/mi, and I got to share some quality time with my
adult son and allow him to serve me in a way that strengthened our
relationship. Despite the unexpected events and apparent adversity, this day turned out to be a tender mercy, a blessing from God. | 