That Time I Accidentally Ran Nine Miles

I mentioned before that I'm sort of helping (I say "helping" because I'm not really in a position to coach anyone, but I do have a lot have half marathon experience, so I'm basically just tagging along and shouting out some not so helpful advice every time I open my mouth.) two newbie future half marathoners.

We've decided that Tinkerbell Half is the goal so we have a lot of time to get trained. Saturday morning, we headed out to a local trail to do 6, maybe 7 miles.

It was quite an adventure, let me tell you. First, the trail we run is part of a local sports complex called Reach 11. It's popular with runners, walkers, cyclists and horseback riders.

We all run at different speeds and have different endurance, so we started out very leisurely and walked two minutes and jogged 90 seconds. A few times, I put on my iPod and ran a ways ahead so I could get a little extra mileage in. When my Garmin read 3.5 miles, we turned around.

On the way back, we ran into a group of riders doing a poker ride. There were little tents set up and when the riders would ride by, they would get a card. At the end of the ride, the rider with the best hand wins. Pretty cool, right?

Then we ran into a guy riding a mule and leading another one. The second mule spooked and tried to run off. Luckily, all three of us are horse people, so we attempted to assist the guy in catching his loose mule. Let me just say, that guys was not appreciative at all, and pretty much yelled at us that we were doing it wrong.

Siiiiiiiigh.

Okay, buddy, catch your own damn mule then! We stuck around anyway just to make sure the more mule did get caught and then we went on our way.

It's really cool to run under the freeways. I don't know why, maybe it's just because they are so massive.

By the time we were about a half mile from the parking lot, I realized that somewhere along the way, I dropped my iPod. How can I possibly run without my iPod?!?!

So I ran back a mile and a half to the over pass and there it was. I think that's the fastest mile and a half I've ever run in my life.

There you are!

So that's how I ended up running 9 miles. I was so hungry by the time we were done, that we went to a late breakfast and inhaled our food.

That was an adventure run for me! Hope everyone had a good weekend!