14.35 miles | 2:16:48 | 9:21 pace | North to the mouth of the canyon and then home. You can sometimes tell within a few minutes how a run will go. I knew about 10 minutes in that I wasn't enjoying myself. Still, I gutted it out even though the second half totally stunk. Alas. I could say it all started out well enough. But it didn't. I slept in (it's Labor Day) and I did some yard work (it's Labor Day). By the time I got around to the run, it was after 12 and it had warmed up some. Still, it's not like we were pushing 90° or anything. At 1 mile I felt drained. Not the kind of drained you feel in your legs, but the kind that begins in your gut and then extends out into your extremeties. So I walked for a minute. At 2.6 I had to take the GU I had been saving for mile 8. The GU seemed to help up to mile 6 and then I had to walk again for a bit. I ran up AF Canyon a bit (0.35) to add some extra mileage to the run and then began the trip back home. Just before mile 9 I stopped at the Kohler's in Highland to fuel up (my GU had been used) with a Pepsi and some donetttes. Yes, the crumb kind. But I had lost it. Ran/walked the rest of the way home and didn't like it one little bit. I was actually questioning why I run. Why do I run? Fortunately, I have a testimony of running. Even the bad days are good for me. I hope. Amen.
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