Home, Home On the Range...

I was really looking forward to my long run at home in Cameron, TX this past week. Mainly for two reasons--I didn't get in my long run the week before, and I was planning on running this one a little differently. Backwards. Just kidding (although, I may try that one of these days). I decided to run from my mom's house to the mailbox and back 16 times. Now, you may think that's nothing--what kind of a long run is that? Well, our mailbox happens to be exactly half a mile from our front yard. So, running there and back 16 times meant that I would be running 16 miles (if I did the math correctly). I definitely would not do this on a regular basis, but I really had fun doing it this once. It was kind of a little adventure. The run was along a dirt road past a couple houses (Aunt Lisa's and Aunt Tammy's), through the ravine, past a couple fields, and through the front gate to the mailboxes. I parked the little Saturn on the road in front of Mom's house and put a few goodies in the trunk (gatorade, water, ibuprofen, powerbar, light jacket, and paper and pencil to mark each mile). I stopped every 2 miles or so to hydrate and mark the miles. Then, I would run around the car and start the next mile.

The run started off extremely hot--close to 80 degrees. I was burning up. That was probably because I didn't think to bring my Summer running gear home during the WINTER. So I was in pants. It was pretty hot for about 9 miles or so. Then, a big storm came through, and it got extremely cold. I actually had to put my jacket on. It was in the 50's by the time I finished, but I'm sure it was colder than that during the run. The wind and the rain came in bursts, but it didn't last for very long. I think it had stopped raining by the time I finished.

As I was running around mile 6, my brother John was coming behind me in his truck. So, I picked up speed and raced him for a little stretch. It felt surprisingly good, but I lost. Later a few cousins came up behind me (in their boots and bare feet) and we raced. I lost horribly again.

A few other cousins were playing in one of the yards for a couple hours and kept asking me as I passed by how many I had left to go. They ran with me on the very last little stretch. They were great cheerleaders. I decided that I want them to be at my next race.

My legs felt really good the whole time. I mean, they were really annoyed with the ravine (up and down 32 times!) by the end of the run. But, they held up and I did a pretty good job of walking for the rest of the day. And I got my new shoes nice and dirty. It felt good.

Here are some pictures of my running route and the surrounding area. This is not where I grew up, but my family lives here now on 65 acres of beautiful Texas land.

AJ passed by and I was very tempted to jump in the back.

Jack--Protecter of the Longhorns

Jackson--The Bull

The ravine dips down there in the back.

Here is a picture of the road from inside the ravine.

Up one side of the ravine...

... and up the other side of the ravine.

The scouts are working on building a log cabin here...

We're still working on getting plumbing here...

I felt the way I look in this picture.

The Texas dirt treated me well, but I'm excited to pound the pavement in South Carolina again.