The Cure All

After a really busy day of work, it was great to get out for a run at the Cuyahoga Valley. I hit heavy traffic on Rt. 8 from an accident and started wondering if this was a good idea. I took a detour around the accident and finally got to the Happy Days parking lot.

The run started out slow and sluggish. I felt like I was moving backwards and even the flats were a struggle. The temperature felt great, nice and cool, but I still worked up a sweat.

I started with a 3.5 mile loop on the Boston Run trail. After finishing that, I headed towards the ledges and Kendall Lake, did a No Frills loop around the hills, then jumped on the Salt Run trail for a 3.5 mile loop. I finished with 13 miles.

I was glad I had decided to run today since I felt great afterward. All the thoughts and stress from the workday vanished into the woods. Even though I've experienced it many, many times before, it always amazes me how a run can fix just about anything. I can't remember one run that I've finished and regretted. Whether it's 90 degrees or 20, raining or snowing, there's always an adventure out there to free your mind, especially on trails. It doesn't always happen, but when you can get in a rhythmn and forget that you're even running, the miles just fly by.

Akron Marathon Relay

This morning I woke up to run in the Akron Marathon Relay. I joined a team at work and would be the 3rd leg - 6.3 miles. The race started at 7 AM and I tossed around the idea of running from my apartment 5 miles to the start, running my leg, then running back. I was glad I decided not to since I didn't get to bed till midnight and it probably wouldn't have been smart anyway since my mileage hasn't gotten too high yet.

I started at Brown St, which is right by the Akron football stadium. I started out like a bat out of hell, but settled into a pace. My leg didn't have to many extreme hills and the part on the Towpath was nice. I handed off the wristband to the next member at Sand Run Metropark and took the bus back downtown to watch the finish.

Our team finished in 3:49. We definitely had much room for improvement since some of our handoffs took 5 minutes or so to find the next member. We weren't going for any world record, so everyone was happy. I was hoping to see my time, but unfortunately one of the chips didn't register at the end of the 2nd leg. Oh well!

"Too often we are scared. Scared of what we might not be able to do. Scared of what people might think if we tried. We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.

We say no when we want to say yes. We sit quietly when we want to scream. And we shout with the others, when we should keep our mouths shut. Why? After all, we do only go around once. There’s really no time to be afraid.

So stop. Try something you’ve never tried. Risk it. Enter a triathlon. Write a letter to the editor. Demand a raise. Call winners at the toughest court. Throw away your television. Bicycle across the United States. Try bobsledding. Try anything. Speak out against the designated hitter. Travel to a country where you don’t speak the language. Patent something. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. JUST DO IT.”

-Barry Sanders, 1992