Anything but Ordinary

Friday Night was decidedly going to be a long evening. After a full day at work the plan was to meet at Percy Warner and run Red/White/Blue x2 for a distance somewhere between 22 and 24 miles. I managed to eat "light" all day and had nothing but a few sorry bites of apple in the parking lot before we took off. Ashly Dewberry, aka @Mash,  and I trudged into the failing light on hard packed snow. The temperature fell as did my countenance as my nutritional deficit began to take its toll. I shoved gel cubes into my mouth by the handfuls just wanting to get through the run in one piece. All in all we ran for well over 4 hours and gained 7k in elevation. I know this training counted because it hurt and when it hurts in a good way, one gets stronger later. 


Sunday I braved the trails again for 15m at 6am at Bowie Prk. This time it was a solo run. I ditched my ipod for most of it and listened to the sounds of the woods. One can truly tune in on such a minute level on long runs; the rustle of leaves, the flapping wings of a redheaded woodpecker, the call of a crow alerting others of your approach.   Prayer was my companion offering solace through grace. The picture above is what I saw upon exiting my Jeep at 6am. It was destined to be one of those alive and wide awake times when living feels anything but ordinary.