Dam to Dam Run

From June 2010

This last Saturday I ran the 20K Dam to Dam race. I have been running again since I discovered I wasn't getting in shape sitting at my desk answering emails and going to meetings. I did a 10K last fall in Huxley when I wasn't really prepared and felt like I was going to die. I kept running through the whole race, but I was 2nd to last to finish and the ambulance followed me the last three miles. The ambulance drivers kept calling out encouraging comments and laughing. I knew deep down they were just waiting for me to finally keel over so they could take me in.

I run most nights after the kids are in bed in the dark along the trail or to the high school track. We also splurged and bought an eliptical excercise machine and I have used it while watching netflix movies in the basement. I also bought cross country skis and went out this winter some along the same trails.

If I had better self control I would go to bed early and get up early to run in the daylight before work. The stars shine bright in Iowa once you get out of town though, except for a distant glow from Des Moines in the South and Ames in the North, like a false dawn. It is quiet on the country roads and when the moon is out it is so bright that I cast a shadow. With a new moon, I find myself jumping over puddles that aren't there and dodging branches from my imagination and usually head home before I hurt myself in the dark. Some nights I stop and look up and try to imagine the prairie is still there in the dark.

I am slow still, but steadily increasing. During the race, I was wet and tired. It started raining as I was running to the starting line and continued till the very end. The last two miles I barely could put one foot after another. The day after the race I hurt so much I slid downstairs on my bum instead of lifting my feet each step. But three days out, I feel ready to go running again.