Today

Today I woke and at once thought about running.  Today would be my longest run in 9 months.  Today I would do (not try to do) 10 miles at Forest Park.   Today I thought about what I should eat for a pre-running breakfast and settled for toast and a banana.  Today I paired up my Ultimate Direction water bottle with it's belt for the first time in a long time.  Today I sorted through the sports bag I bring to work to find a clothes combination for the weather of 48F and dry.  Today while lacing up my Vomeros someone asked my advice on where to buy shoes and how I liked mine.  Today when coworkers saw me in my running clothes I answered several of their questions about "where?" and "how far?" and "are you going alone?"  Today I drove on the freeways, skirted downtown Portland on side streets and and then climbed suburban Thurman street to park just down from the trailhead lot.  Today I contemplated the security of my wallet, phone and keys and decided to hide my wallet inside the car and take my keys and phone with me in the small zippered pouch in the hydration belt.  Today I decided to listen to Fdip because the last time I ran high up into these woods I felt lonely and this time wanted to hear a friendly voice.  Today I started started running, slalomed thru the opening in the gate that bars the forest road and started up the rocky roadbed. Today while my body was still warming up I wondered how I would feel near the end of the run and wondered whether I would feel strong or would be struggling or hurting later.  Today I got passed on the road by two separate faster runners and was startled each time because I did not hear them coming with my iPod in my ears.  Today I felt pretty good out there and was able to plug right along with a consistent pace.  Today I was surprised to find a group of five women walking together up near mile 4.5 because I rarely see walkers up this far.  Today I impulsively pulled my phone out to take a picture of my turn around point, milepost 5, in observance of my longest run in a long while.  Today while running I sent the picture I had just taken to my wife's email so she would see I was fine.  Today I had to momentarily stop when an unleashed dog approached me and the owner had to call it back.  Today I kept noting how close my Nano counted the miles compared to the MP markers along the road (it finished at 9.92 miles). Today my left heel started to feel a bit sore after mile 8 and I slowed my pace just bit on this downhill section to keep from aggravating my plantar fasciitis.    Today I finished my run in 1  hour and 29 minutes and felt great afterwards.  Today I opened my car, pulled off my sweat soaked poly shirt and pulled on a dry cotton T-shirt and a dark gray sweatshirt that had belonged to my dad.  Today I blew my nose one last time into my running diaper and then used it to wipe the mud off the back my legs.  Today I drove home and listened to some jazz and then to NPR, two of my favorite post-run sounds.  Today I came home to a hyper dog who had clearly noticed that I gotten home from work later than normal.  Today I weighed myself soon after getting home, and before I eat or drink  anything, because it always shows a nice low number.  Today I took a long shower and did some shower stretching.  Today I uploaded my run to Nike+ and then wrote it down in my workout log book.  Today I went to "caloriesperhour.com"  and compared it's estimate (1300) to my Nano's (1486).  Today I wrote on this blog.  Today was another celebration of my life.  Today I was a runner.