12 blazing yellow gold miles - gerlinda

it was overcast, damp and in the 50's when lauren & i headed out on the silver comet trail for our 12 mile run. autumn this far south is a quick, brittle affair - but because of the damp air, the yellow, orange and red trees looked luminous. the silver comet trail crosses several scenic bridges, and i almost felt like i was in the country sometimes - running past peeling white wooden rails, over a carpet of wet and scattered leaves.

lauren & i are so idiotic that we ran off and forgot to carry our water! luckily, some genius has opened a really cool little coffee shop at mile 3.5. we stopped the watch and scurried in for some free water. then we looked like dorks carring our 16-oz coke cups with lids and straws down the trail. but hey - it did the trick. we ran a couple 10ths over 12 miles in 1:59 & change. a respectable pace. even though lauren is way faster than me, she held back and we chatted the whole way. it felt pretty effortless until the last mile, and then i started really feeling it. we talked our way through it by playing word association games. today, my calves are sore - but other than that, i feel great. i might try 14 next weekend... i'd at least like to go 13.5, just so i can feel, again, like i've achieved something i've never done before...