Post-Tempo Treat: A Flat Tire!

Wednesday workout: rest
Thursday workout: 11 miles with 9 tempo (9:30), Connects

I hate to have my first picture be ugly garmin data, so I'm going to throw a picture of us kiddos in here because I think we're kind of adorable.

I posted this on Facebook and one friend commented that with my moccasins and flowy dress, I was the original hipster.

----

When I finished my run today, I got back to my car, tired but full of run-induced contentment. We'll get to that, but I wanted to tell you about the surprise that awaited me at my car: a flat tire!

After recoiling in horror, I did what any self-respecting, independent woman does: I called my dad.

I've lived a sheltered life so had no idea what to do with a flat tire. Fortunately, I just needed a push in the right direction. Did you know that EVERY car has a spare and a jack somewhere in it? I had no idea. Thanks, dad!

I was determined to earn back some of my self-respecting, independent woman points so changed it myself. It's actually not that hard. However, my spare tire was half deflated. Ugh! I was starving and covered in sweat so driving to a gas station to get some air was just about the last thing I wanted to do. But since preserving your hubcap is apparently "important," I sucked it up.

If you're ever in need of a laugh, just picture this: Jeano, driving fifteen miles an hour on a main road, her spare tire half-deflated and her emergency lights on. People are honking and giving her grief for driving so slowly. Suddenly, this song comes on. You know, the song whose main lyric is "We started from the bottom now we here?" If that was me at the top, I don't want to know what bottom looks like. Fortunately, it made me laugh hysterically, which of course made me that maniacal slow driver.

I can't decide if this is retribution for not having gotten my studded tires off yet, OR if it's actually a reward for not having done so (I don't see myself needing studded tires in Oregon, so it's good the studded tire shit the bucket and not the regular one. Although I suppose I could invest in a tire patch or whatever you do with flat tires). I'll go with the latter. Anyway, I learned some big kid lessons today.

----

So, my run! I went back to the Mayor's Marathon course that almost killed me on Tuesday to see how the Connects did.

About that... it seems I was a bit hasty in concluding that this course will kill me. Google street view is a wonderful thing, and some further detective work showed me I actually ran too far on Tuesday. I didn't realize the course veered off onto trails so soon, so it hadn't even occurred to me to turn at any of the trailheads I passed. Well, veer it does, and it does so BEFORE that insane 281-foot hill. 

 MUCH more reasonable!

Usually I'd be wary of bears, but there seemed to be some people on the trail and I really wanted to check it out, so I threw caution to the wind and started down. I felt like Logan! Except this trail was seriously tame, and I'm not running 31 miles of it. There was a lot of mud, though, so at least I looked like I had been on a treacherous adventure. That's the point, right?

I ran for a little over a mile until I hit the "Tank Trail," which is restricted military land. I was really tempted to continue on (I was only a quarter mile away from 5 miles! I hate turning around before the lap is done, especially since my garmin always cuts off part of the turnaround), but the gate was sufficiently intimidating that I didn't dare. My elevation chart tells me I stopped at 500 feet, though, which means I made it to the high point of the course!

I'm wondering if I experienced the infamous "golf ball-sized gravel." There were rocks, and they were golf ball-sized. But it wasn't gravel. Gravel means tons of rocks, right? This was just trail. Trails have rocks. I probably didn't make it far enough, but if that's what people are complaining about I shake my finger at them.

After running this, I do think that I'll have to run in my Connects, though. The rocks were prominent enough that I think it would be a pain in the ass to run it in the Pace Gloves. Bummer!

Questions:

• Have you ever changed a tire?
• Thoughts on trail running? When I moved back to Alaska I told myself I was only running trails from then on, but my thoughts on the matter have obviously changed since then. First there was the snow issue, and now there's the bear issue... I really hope to do some more once I'm done with marathon training, though. This turned into less of a question and more of a "let me talk about myself."