A New Place

MB told me about a new route near the third gate that I might want to try.
It's about 4 miles and very steep.

Okay. Sounds good. (except for the very steep part).

I decided this morning to do it after a couple errands and spending an hour of torture in the hygenist chair.
I ate a snack on the way there. 2 slices of yummy deli turkey and half of a peanut butter Cliff bar. Swished down with lemon lime gatorade.

By the time I finally got to the rec lake (where the route begins) time had gotten away from me. I set off at 1:45. Instead of cutting through to Secret Lake Trail by going past Sherri's house...I decided I could tack on another mile by going up to Sweetwater first and going around. This way I'd be running the entire length of Secret Lake Trail before it comes back up to Sweetwater and tackling one very large hill right from the getgo. Little did I know (I sort of knew) that it would not be the most challenging one I'd face today.

interruption:
I know you have no idea what I'm talking about...but deal with it. This is my post. My journal. My log history. Thank you for understanding.
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

You'd think I would have used my brain. The smart thing to do would have been to drive this route first, just so I knew what to expect. I didn't even consult my map! Somehow I believe my ignorance was intentional.
I love the thrill of seeing a new street. Especially when the houses start to spread out and I come upon a turn where if I fell I could potentionally land a good 30 feet below in a thick forest of thorny berry bushes.

Well they don't call this place "the divide" for nothing.

The one thing I did NOT like about today's adventure were the bugs! Getting that close to nature has it's downside. Thanks to the nice sunny weather, my face and neck had built up a respectable layer of sweat. I was constantly swatting at them until I got back onto the main drag.

It was fun. I will surely run this route again.
There were several things I saw on Secret Lake Trail.
The first thing I noticed is a house that we had considered buying 2 years ago on one of our many house hunting trips. It was a 3 story monster with 2 rock columns for an entry that stretched the length of all three floors. Impressive, but definitely screams...70's!!!!
This was one of those homes we only considered on paper. I just couldn't get past those columns. I hated them! Besides, our realtor said it had structural damage...let's move on.
I ran on by it thinking...hmm, well now I know where that house is.

I continued on, trying to stay to the left so I didn't get lost. Wouldn't be much fun ending up somewhere near the rock quarry. Especially since I'm so late on time. The kids will wonder why mom wasn't at the bus stop to pick them up.
At one point the road started to narrow, which made me think I had veered off into someone's driveway! But no, I hadn't. It was about this same time that my stomach started feeling like it was being used as a knife sharpener.

WHAT THE??

Yeah, it was as if I'd just gulped down a thick chocolate shake. Was it the Cliff bar? I made sure there wasn't any dairy in it. Everything is soy for me.
DAMN! It almost made me stop...but I pressed on. I was running downhill for what seemed like forever and couldn't wait to go uphill. Maybe then my stomach muscles won't be so stretched out and the pain will go away.
It worked, the pain subsided and I was happy again.

I guess that's about it. I ran back to my car and said hello to Allen, a security officer.

As I drove back down the same road I had just run on, my thoughts drifted to what it will feel like to someday run a marathon. I know I will do it. There are few people who do it. There are few people who WANT to do it. Why do I want to? I can't really explain that. Most burning desires are difficult to put into words.

Tonight I sat on the coach with a bag of frozen peas perfectly positioned to hit both knees. My badly bruised toenail looks horrible still. But even while I nurse these injuries, I am wondering where tomorrow will take me.