I thought all morning about how today was going to be “the day”. I was going to run the whole loop without walking. And I was going to run faster on the running portions than I have been running. It was going to be amazing.

It started off mixed. It’s a beautiful day, but much much warmer than any time I’ve previously tried to run. But I came out of the front gate going fast. I went fast all the way to the 1 mile marker. Then I went fast all the way to the 2 mile marker, but I was breaking down on my way there. My legs started to hurt. Right around the 2 mile marker I switched to walking.

It takes a lot longer to catch your will than it does to catch your breath. For some reason, I had lost my will to keep going and I couldn’t seem to get it back. I walked up the hill past the VH logo. I kept walking around the corner and up onto Sandalwood. I tried to run again, but it didn’t last more than a house or two, and then I was back to walking again. I did finally run down the hill into the circle and up the next hill onto Mesquite, but then I was back to walking. I must have walked 4 or 5 minutes total. I did finish out the loop running, but I knew I had failed to do what I set out to do.

33:42

It’s actually a pretty good time considering how much I walked. I guess that means I just pushed too hard in the beginning. I need to stop worrying about the records and start worrying about finishing the loop without walking.