Uphill both ways

 I mentioned in my last post that I am adding all my old runs to Garmin.  I started the last few days of February 2012 and I am currently in August 2013.  I was fast back then.  The (one and only) long run I did in August of 2013, I ran 8 miles at a 9 min/mile.  (Also, "one and only" is funny because all of my runs from back then are 4 miles or more, my current "long run" is 4 miles.)  

Also, I forgot how much I loved my treadmill when I first got it. I got it at the end of 2012 (maybe a Christmas present to myself?).  I remember how easy it was to run on it, I was doing 4 miles at close to an 8 min/mile.  I also remember when I moved it and suddenly it wasn't so easy.  I truly believe the treadmill was sitting on an incline, so it was like I was running downhill the whole time.  When I first got it, it sat in the carport of that home.  We moved in 2014 and it went to the garage in that house, and it was so much harder there.  We only lived in that house 6 months and then in the new, new house it was in the living room.  I liked it there because I could watch TV and still be "part of the family" while it was there.  It is back in my garage at my current house, and I don't care for it there and I rarely use it.  Since moving it out of the carport in the first house, it has never felt as easy, so I really do think it was on an incline.  

I forgot how active I got when I first started running.  In 2013 I had the goal of 100 miles a month.  I was not making that goal, so I switched to 1200 for the year.  Well, over the summer I got plantar faciitis and completely quit running for about a month (middle of Sept-middle of Oct.).  But I started going to a gym and was doing a row machine and elliptical.  In fact, I had a personal trainer assessment, and that was the person that told me to roll my foot with a lacrosse ball.  I did not remember that was who told me to do that.  As I'm reading old posts, I have started remembering things.  

Honestly, this is one of the biggest reasons I continue to write on here.  I have no followers (well, about 2 faithful ones) and like I said before, blogging is out of style now, but I can go back and read my thoughts from 13 years ago.  

Anyway, reading my old blog posts and looking at my old runs has made me want to run more.  I'm sure it won't last, but for now, I'm running.  Not farther, just more often, although, I'd like to run farther, I'm working on it. It's also made me appreciate hills a lot more, because I see how fast my times were, seriously, I was running 4+ miles at a 9 min/mile pace and sometimes under that.  After my month off of running in 2013, I came back and ran 4 miles at  a 8.26 min/mile.  I don't know if I'll ever get back to that, but I do want to go back to running hills, which means I have to do it during or after work (I work in the area I used to live in with all the hills).  

So yesterday I decided I was going to run at work, but then didn't have the time.  I was headed to Anacortes, a very cute town on the edge of the Sound about 30 min away, to see some clients so I decided I'd run that trail I last week and run the other part, the part that goes over the water.  However, it was really windy and I knew that the stretch over the water would just be horrible. I really struggled with just going home, and running there, but I really felt that I would not run if I did that.  I also had planned to run the hills at work, and Anacortes is very hilly, so I decided to just do it.  I stopped at a park that I knew had a bathroom to change in and then went for my run. 

I don't know Anacortes well, but I know a few streets so I planned to just do an out and back.  I started down one street and realized I was going downhill and really didn't want to run uphill on the way back, so I turned down a side street that went uphill. I started turning on random streets and it seemed that every street I turned down went uphill.  I had decided to only do 2 miles because I just didn't want to run, but then when I needed to turn back to the park, I just kept running into roads that turned and could not get back to the main road that I knew I needed to be on.  

The other issue I was running into was the really, really dark clouds that were fast approaching overhead.  It started raining, and I just couldn't get back to my car.  The run ended up not much farther than 2 miles, 2.6miles, but it felt forever because I just kept running into roads that turned instead of go straight, where I needed to go.  I also just kept going uphill.  I'd turn and go downhill for a block and then I was going back uphill but it really felt that there were waaaayyyy more uphills than downhills. I felt like the stories our parents used to say "I walked uphill both ways to school" were true and is really possible, meanwhile the clouds just kept getting darker.  Thankfully I made it back to my car before it started raining hard.  

On my drive home it really started pouring and about 10 min after leaving thunder and lightning started.  It really was a crazy run, and then a crazy drive home.  I was really glad I got done when I did.

I have no pictures, but here is a picture of Maddox hitting a tennis ball. 😀