Numb running

Today's run (street): 4.75 miles

A year ago I ran the Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor 5K and met TPP in person for the first time. It seems impossible that it was only a year ago. It's also hard to believe that the first time our little group (including SIOR) all got together was last November.

It would have been nice if the three of us could have done the Supervisor's race today, but only TPP could make it.

My day started in the dentist chair. Despite my fitness age of 41, my fillings are older. One had cracked and needed to be replaced. My dentist doesn't work a lot of weekends, so I had to take an available slot this morning. We talked about the race today and she said she doesn't run because of her knee. I resisted arguing that point with her, because it's hard to debate health issues with a doctor. Especially one who is about to stick a sharp object in your mouth.

I finished with my appointment and headed home. On the way out of the medical office I saw many runners and cyclists along the bike trail that parallels Sunnyside Boulevard. This is the northernmost end of the Bethpage trail that terminates on Woodbury Road. I occasionally run to it from my house and follow the path to Washington Ave. I thought about running it today, but remembered that we had morning plans.

When I got home, my wife told me that I had an hour to run if I wanted to do it. I had resigned myself to an afternoon workout, but I always prefer mornings. I quickly changed and headed outside. My mouth was numb from the dentist and I thought the run might help get my blood flowing enough to make it wear off. Unfortunately, I was still semi-numb by the time I returned home.

My wife had mentioned the humidity during her earlier treadmill run and I was prepared for it. When I got outside, it felt cool and comfortable. I decided to do a tempo and took it easy for the first mile, increasing my effort on each subsequent mile.

There were a lot of cars on the road at 9:00 AM and I was shocked to see three people walking on the right side of the street, spreading more than halfway across the road. Worse, their back was to traffic and I saw at least one car come up behind them and slow to a stop so they could squeeze by safely on the left. This was on a street with a 30 MPH speed limit. Those morons were completely oblivious.

I needed to complete my run, shower and be ready all within an hour, so I fell a little short of my targeted 5 miles. Getting my run in before the day's activities were to start was a nice and unexpected surprise. I hope TPP had a good race today. We were certainly with her in spirit.