I have a Tile, a little Bluetooth tag on my keyring, to help me locate my keys whenever I mislay them. Its battery was running out, so at 3am it woke me from my slumber with a series of electronic squawks, and after I’d figured out what it was, I couldn’t get back to sleep.
I had planned to go for a run this morning, but the rain was pouring down and I was tired. Out of sheer bloodymindedness I forced myself to dress, get in the car and drive through the torrential downpour over to Bellevue, to the Coal Creek trail we’d hiked this weekend.
My friend Stacy told me it would take a couple of hours to run, when we took three hours to walk it on Saturday. My wife told me it would take much more than an hour, when we took two hours to walk it on Sunday. It might have a mile long ascent at the start, but it was less than four miles. I had something to prove. I also promised my wife I’d turn back after 30 minutes so I wouldn’t be stranded on the trail. I was more worried about being savaged by bears or cougars.
So I drove there, arriving at the car park just before seven, to find the gate locked so I couldn’t get in. I drove up and down the road and found a street to park on, a kilometre away, then ran down to the car park in the rain, to find the gate unlocked and open. Damnit.
I started the run. I ran up the enormous hill. I ran out of energy and had to walk up the enormous hill. Halfway up, three people ran down the hill. Where had they come from? I started to jog, and run walked my way to the very top, then plodded along, trying to run as much as I could.
It was not too cold. Gusts of wind sent sprays of rainwater on me from time to time, but I had a hooded raincoat, and two layers beneath that, plus gloves and decent socks. The trail was covered in wet leaves so descents were a bit scary, and I was dismayed to meet the runners again before I got to halfway, running up the trail again, but I pressed on.
With a mile to go, I was at 38 minutes. That would show everyone. I kept my pace up to the very end, finishing in a sort of respectable 48 minutes (it’s a 4 mile trail, so that’s not brilliant, but it’s my first run in almost six months, and oh,hills. I trotted slowly back to the car, changed and drove back through more rain for another day at work. At least I didn’t get the news I’d expected, that the election would be done and the president would be re-elected. No, there’s more days yet for the torture to be dragged out. At least I got some time to myself in the woods. Next time, bring bolt cutters?