7=8

Random Road Run: Temperature 79 degrees. Splits 9:26; 9:32; 9:40; 9:37; 10:08; 9:30; 9:31; 9:06; 1:16:30 total for 8 miles; 9:34 per mile pace.

Today's run was scheduled to be 7 miles run-walk-run at a 9:40 per mile pace. I packed my "tool" (hydration) belt, one bottle of ice cold water, a banana flavored Hammer gel, and drove to the linear trail. I bought a couple pair of Nike running shorts with the $50 I had in Dick's gift cards, and today's run was going to be a test run of one of them. One problem: No pockets. I like having pockets on running shorts, so I can store my small sweat towel, my gel or GU chomps, and my car key. After the initial panic of what I was going to do, I realized that the gel and towel could go in my "tool" belt (Duh!), and the key inside my shorts in what apparently is a key pocket. Wow, I learn something new every day! That being solved, I decided to do a random run, where my Garmin and I run randomly around Cheshire. As a reward, I would make sure the last 1 1/2 miles were run on the linear trail. Off I went, and the miles flew by. Running for a mile, and walking for a minute certainly has its benefits. Between miles three and four I started looking for potential bathroom break sites, and spied a good one off the road and in some woods behind a small brick building that looked like it housed some electrical stuff. Of course I now had to plan my run so that I would be able to loop back and end up at that point during my allotted one minute walk break. With 6/10 of a mile to run before my walk break, I knew that all I had to do was run 3/10 of a mile, turn around, and head back. Easy! I arrived back there as planned, quickly sucked down my Hammer banana gel (one of my favorite flavors)as I walked behind the building, and felt a sharp pain as I sliced my left shin on a branch. A two inch wide gash is the price I paid for creating a bathroom. The metal fence around the brick building concerned me, and in order to avoid possible pain in a more delicate area I kept away from it. Mission accomplished, I resumed my run. I went down a side street, and saw the entrance to Roaring Brook Falls. I ran along the dirt/mud path, past a brook filled with algae, and got scared by a extremely fast squirrel that ran across in front of me. I really wanted to see the falls, which according to ctwaterfalls.com: "This is the highest single drop waterfall in the state. The falls are quite spectacular especially in the spring or after a heavy rain. The falls have not been turned into a park and have been preserved in their natural beauty by the Cheshire Land Trust. A great place to see falls as they are in nature." Problem was I had no idea how much further I had to go, I was now being attacked by flies, and a check of my Garmin told me I was already at 5 1/2 miles, with what I knew was more than 1 1/2 miles to go back to my car. So I promised myself I'd go back another time and turned around. I headed down the road, turned left, and knew that at some point I would come to the linear trail. I really didn't know how much further that would be. Yes, I was running in my hometown, but at that point my sense of direction sucked. I saw a hill ahead, but wasn't concerned since I really don't mind running up them. I knew that once I cleared the hill that I would have a better idea of how much further it was until the linear trail, and to my car. As I reached the top, I checked my Garmin. It was at 6 1/4 miles. So much for a seven mile run, since I now knew that I was 1/4 mile from the trail, and had 1 1/2 miles of trail running to reach my car. So my planned seven mile run turned out to be eight miles. I really can't complain, since overall it was a perfect day to run, with the sun shining, low humidity, and 79 degrees. Plus I averaged a 9:34 per mile run-walk-run pace, six seconds than my planned 9:40 per mile pace. By the way, I love my pocket less Nike shorts. Superior wicking action, meaning absolutely no sweat at the end of the run. By the way, in addition to a slurpee after a run, nothing beats a Dunkin' Donuts hazelnut iced coffee with cream and sugar as a post run reward.