even when it's freezing

today's mileage: 11

on the iPod: "american saturday night" -- brad paisley

The inaugural running of the Fayetteville Half Marathon is one week from today and if the weather holds it's gonna be a cold one. Our final training run before the event found us laced up in the upper 30's. I can't remember the last time I ran in those conditions. Somewhere around mile seven I was begging for the summer runs in the hot, muggy, humid August air. I've clearly lost my mind. Someone please remind me of today when i'm crying and bitching about the heat in the summer of 2011. Thanks in advance.

The run wasn't necessarily a standout in terms of enjoyment, but it had it's moments. The faster paces of previous runs continued as we covered quite a bit of the Skull Creek trail as well as two laps around Wilson Park. We got to run on the trail upgrades of the city's flagship greenspace, kudos to Fayetteville for supporting the trail system. I, like alot of people in Fayetteville, have tons of great memories from Wilson Park; and i'm glad that we've started to run there again. I've avoided it over the last few years because of the monster hills, but I think experiencing the local feel of Fayetteville while running makes up for having to run them. Mrs. Pugh commented that it's uphill the entire way. As we run a complete circle around Wilson Park, i'm pretty sure that's scientifically impossible, but i'm not for certain. I didn't question her logic as she's pretty smart.

This past Friday night Mrs. Murie and I rode down to Little Rock for the 7A Football State Championship game between the Bentonville Tigers and the Fayetteville Bulldogs. BHS came out on top, capping off an undefeated season. While i'm very proud of my students on the team and happy for their successes, the real win was getting to spend time with Mrs. Murie. I'm happy for her that she's at FHS now, but I dearly miss my friend. We talked shop, we talked running. We laughed and ate and drank. We cheered touchdowns, we boo'ed interceptions. But mostly we just enjoyed a few hours of catching up. I'm so glad that we still have our runs together. They're really as much about socializing and friendship as they are distance or time. Throw Mrs. Pugh into the mix and I'd run in just about any weather. Even when it's freezing.