Today
was to mark my first truly long run for 2018.
I realize it’s already July, but the last time I ran 10 or more miles at
one time? Late October 2017 at Ghost
Train.
Scott
and I planned out a great day: drive to
Lover’s Key, run 10+ miles on the trails, change into bathing suits, and hit
the beach. It’s all right there, so a
great way to spend the day getting it all done in a beautiful state park.
Unfortunately, my first double digit run of 2018 will have to wait
another week.
I
had all the excuses: it was warm at 8am
when I started, I tried to keep up with Scott, and I ate all of the wrong
things (including not enough) yesterday.
Womp, womp. I felt spent almost immediately and decided
to call it a day at 5 miles and headed off to the beach to wait for Scott to
finish his run.
So I'll share a couple of firsts that DID happen today…..
Scott
met me on the beach with stories of seeing his first armadillo, who ended up
running alongside him for a stretch. He’s
seen one before in worse shape (road kill ☹)
but never alive and well on the trails.
I guess I’ll have to wait for my first armadillo sighting for another day.
Later
on the beach, suddenly everyone was pointing out to the ocean (here’s where I’m
glad I happened to have been in my beach chair). A manatee was swimming by, parallel to the
coastline and everyone jumped up to watch it.
I’m not sure if those in the
water nearby the gentle giant knew what was approaching them, but hopefully
they figured it was something safe, since we on the shoreline were not
panicking. Still, I might have panicked
a bit (ok, a lot) if a manatee swam towards me.
The manatee was a little too far out for me to get a good picture, so I
just enjoyed my first sighting sans technology.
Firsts
are magical. First dates, first sighting of xyz animal, first birthday, first child, and yes,
even first double digit runs. I remember vividly my first double digit run so many years ago, while training for my first half
marathon. Even though I’ll never have
another true first, you can be sure I’ll be celebrating my first double digit run of
2018 as if it were my very first!
Who else has seen an armadillo and/or a manatee?
