Running the loop

Yeah…I ran the loop. You heard me right! I ran the FRICKIN LOOP!  

This is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  I have always wanted to run the loop for as long as I can remember, well as long as I have been running. I had an 8 mile run for my long run today.  I was fretting about this run all week long.  Running the loop for the first time was a big deal and it always seemed to be an impossible task to me….before today. 

So I woke up this morning and it was just gorgeous this morning, perfect to attempt this impossible task.  I got ready to go, procrastinated a bit but got out there.  I started up the small hill to the falls bridge and went over to west river drive.  I then turn and head on down the road. I begin down West River Drive (now technically called Martin Luther King Jr. Drive).  I am truckin along when all of the sudden, there were a TON of people on the road. It was the Making Strides against Cancer Walk.  UGH! Don’t get me wrong, totally support the cause and was even wearing pink! My first (and only) 5K was the mother's day run several years ago.  But what it meant to me today was that I didn’t have the clear path that I thought I would have.  In fact, I had to bob and weave around the walkers! But this didn’t stop me! I imagined in my head it was all the runners I will be running around on the half-marathon day!

I got through the crowds and I make my turn to go up Kelly drive. It suddenly hits me, I am running the loop. I am familiar with my side of the river. I go by boathouse row and there is yet another walk! It was the Stepping out for Scleroderma walk! This was a smaller walk but still, my bobbing and weaving skills were put to the test again! 

I break through the crowd from that walk and then I am off to the races.  I made it all the way to the end, with the help of my energy chews and Nick, who biked the loop while I was running it. He found me with half a mile to go and gave me the extra boost to make it all the way, with an extra quarter mile to boot. 

All day long today I randomly had the thought in my head “wow, I ran the loop” and I would just smile.  I can’t believe I ran the loop. It is beyond a big deal (have I mentioned that I this was a big deal?).  With this run, I feel like I have the secret handshake to a mythical running club.  I feel like I have arrived.

And for those keeping score at home, week 6 total mileage is 27.38.