Running: one wrong turn…well two, and lessons learned

I had planned to make a Facebook post about yesterday’s run, but it would have been far too long.  So here goes:

We were driving back from Pittsburgh to the Erie area and I need to get a long run in to stay on my training plan.  The idea was to have my wife drop me off about 15 miles from home and I’d run back.  Here’s how the conversation went with my boys:

What are you doing, Dad?

Mom is dropping me off, I’m going to run home
How far?
15 miles.
How long will that take?
I’ll see you in  two and half hours.
Ok.  Bye!

I love that dropping their dad off on a highway exit to run home for hours doesn’t faze them!

I knew it was going to rain, so threw my iPhone in a sandwich bag.  I had no idea how HARD it was going to rain though.  I grabbed my water bottle, jumped out, tightened the Lace Locks (love these, by the way) on my distance running shoes (Altra Olympus - love those MORE) and started running.  Not even one mile in it started raining.  At two miles, it started POURING.  I love running in the rain so it wasn’t a big deal…yet. 

At the 3 mile point I’m running up Route 98, a two lane stretch with a 55 mph speed limit and about 3 feet of running room on the side.  I realized that no one moves over for runners, probably only 4 vehicles out of the 200+ that passed me moved over at all.  Every other vehicle sprayed me with cold water or actually splashed me from resting water on the road.  That which doesn’t kill you…

At mile 6 nature called so I took a side road that I know swings back toward 98.  It was still absolutely pouring rain.  I had heard thunder in the distance earlier but a lightning bolt slammed down on the other side of the trees (way too close!) and I sprinted up a driveway, speaking loudly so the homeowner knew that the guy going onto his porch in a torrential downpour was harmless.  I stood under his porch under some cover and had a great chat with this older gentlemen, explaining that I was training for a marathon, running from Edinboro to Fairview and that the lightning scared me onto his porch to either wait out the storm or get picked up.  He was great.  We chatted for 10 minutes while I surfed the Weather Channel app and texted my wife.  I realized that the giant red storm cell had passed and other one would dip south of me, so I decided to forge on.  After he told me I was crazy to be running in this weather, I thanked him and ran off…in the wrong direction at the Y in the road.  Tired, wet, discombobulated…I don’t know.  I realized my mistake about a mile up the road and should have turned around but didn’t.  The road turned to dirt and I waited for a right turn to take me back to 98.  A right turn never showed up and I realize now that I was actually running northwest instead of north. 

 

Here's the route:

Here's where I messed up:

I came to an intersection around mile 10 that I kind of recognized but couldn’t get my iPhone to center on my location through a wet sandwich bag so I made the choice to go straight.  Wrong!  At mile 11 I waved down a nice but untrusting lady at an intersection who barely cracked her window and I asked her where I was.  When she said Girard I knew I was in trouble!  I asked her how to get to Fairview and she told me I should turn around, which seemed like a crappy option, it was at least 3+ miles back to the friendly older gentleman – in retrospect, not a bad option!  I asked where the road she was going on goes and she said it would end near downtown Girard.  I figured I’d at least know where to tell my lovely wife to come get me if I could make it to Girard instead of trying to explain where I was in the middle of nowhere, so off I went, glancing back to notice the lady shaking her head.

At this point I still had no idea where I was.  The temperature had dropped from 78 to 62.  I plodded on.  Close to mile 12 I recognized a turn and knew where I was finally, and it was far from home!  At 12.5 miles I passed the kennel that we had kept our dog in last night.  I stopped and called my wife and asked her to pick me up in 25 minutes and gave her my general direction. Thank goodness my wife is a runner too and she understand me!  I had basically missed our house by about 6 miles.

As soon as I finished my 15 I started my cool down walk, and a very nice lady and her teenage son stopped and said “It’s pouring, do you need a ride?!”  How sweet is that?  I told them I just finished my run and had a ride coming but I really appreciated it.  Who offers to pick up a shirtless, soaking wet guy on the side of the road?  The kid said “crazy” under his breath and off they went.

Kelly pulled up a few minutes later and off I went to hot shower.  What relief!

Crazy?  I don’t think so.  It was challenging, it was enjoyable, it was an experience, it was a much needed long run and it was 23 seconds per mile faster than I planned for 15 miles.  Success!

Some lessons I can share:

• Have a backup plan. Have a phone and someone you call to save you if you get lost or the weather turns bad.
• Plan a route and stick to it.
• Bring proper gear. Any rain gear would have massively improved that run.
• If you don’t stick to the plan, turn around and take the road you know instead of trying to plot a new path on unfamiliar roads.
• If you’re driving past a runner or bicyclist, give them some space if you can and slow down, especially in the rain. Yes, he’s crazy for being out there in the first place, but let’s not make it worse for our fellow man. Running on the road is a joy, but when you get passed by just a few feet, it’s scary no matter what the weather is like. If the runner happens to trip, you have no margin for error if you’re hauling ass 3 feet away in your big ol’ truck. I promise, you’ll get where you’re going almost as quickly if you slow down just a bit.
• There are some really nice people out there. I got to meet a few of them yesterday. I hope they smile when they tell the story of the crazy guy running in the pouring rain.
• I love running.

Keep running!