When I looked up from my work, it was almost 1:00. I didn’t really feel like running. If the pool had been open, I’m sure I would have talked myself into swimming. But it wasn’t. I thought about riding my bike, but I suited up for running anyway. I tried to talk myself into just running the short 2.5 mile loop that I’ve done so many times, but I filled my water bottles and strapped them on. That usually means I’m running the 5 mile loop.

But something strange happened. As I started running there were a bunch of cars pulling in and out of the parking lot, so I stayed on the sidewalk to the right of the parking lot. Normally, I run down the left side of the parking lot when I do the 5 mile loop, so I was a little out of place. When I got to the bottom of the parking lot, I just stayed right and the next thing I knew I was headed away from my normal loop.

I figured I would do an out-and-back across the top of Del Mar Heights Road and get about 6 miles done without too much climbing. I broke down and let myself walk a lot those first few miles, and for that I required punishment. So I ran up to Rancho Santa Fe Farms Road and then cut down to the trail along the 56. I pulled my phone out to see how far I had gone when I got to Carmel Country Road. I was 90 minutes in to the run and had gone just over 8 miles. I was really close to telling Strava that my run was complete and just walking home from there, but I kept telling myself I could always trim it back to any point in the run if I decided to do that later. And so I kept going. But it was mostly just walking after that. At least I didn’t let myself just go up Carmel Mountain. I made it all the way to Carmel Creek before heading home.

https://app.strava.com/activities/45968170

I don’t think I’ve ever gone 9.5 miles in a single session before. That’s pretty cool.