Just me, the lightning bugs, the trail... and Enya?

Good morning. Thanks for taking a look at the latest edition on my running blog! Thanks to all of you that support me in my training process. I have purposely told a lot of people about my upcoming half-marathon because, I want to be accountable to someone. As a wellness coach, I am the person that provides the accountability for so many people. It is nice to be on the other end of that for a change.

This week was pretty good, all things considered. I was sick last week with serious allergies/sinus junk (yes that is a real medical term). I was craving to go running, but I knew if I didn't take care of the sickies (another real medical term) first, it would take a lot longer to get better. So, with that said, I didn't run on my usual Monday and Wednesday last week. My training schedule had me set for 6 miles on Saturday. I was ready mentally, but probably a little out of shape physically since I hadn't run at all that week.

I mapped out a 3-mile trail on runnersworld.com and headed to the park around 8:00 PM. It has been near 100 degrees for several weeks now plus a lot of humidity (I prefer dry heat better). With heat index, it has been around 105. So I headed out on my first of two 3 - mile loops around Breckenridge park in Richardson Texas. This park has a really good walking/jogging trail with parts of it heavily wooded and others out in the open. Part of it wraps around a small lake and follows creek. It is really a nice park. When I finished my first 3 miles, the sun was starting to set. After chugging half a bottle of Gatorade and my water bottled refilled and in hand, I turned around to do the loop again, this time in the opposite direction.

This was when the run just got really beautiful. It started around the 4th mile. I headed into an area of the park with a winding path and big oak trees. It was much darker in this area of the park. I started to notice lightning bugs aka fireflies. There were a ton of them. It was really pretty. After crossing the creek, I started to round the lake. By this time the sun was pretty much set, the sky was orange and pink. I was the only one around. There were ducks in the lake swimming and the reflection of the sunset was on the water. I took a mental picture of that. It was really pretty. Finally, I was headed into the last mile. It was in a heavily wooded area of the park and the sun was down. It was really dark at this part of the trail. I was a little nervous but I went ahead anyway. The lightning bugs were everywhere. It was so neat to have the trail lit by their little spurts of light. At this stretch of the trail, Enya came on my i-pod. It was the most peaceful run that I have ever had. Just perfect! I felt so rejuvenated after the hour long run. My legs are still recovering today from the run, but the discomfort is well worth it.

My apologies for the length of this update. Every time I start to post something, I think that it will be a short posting, but I can't seem to shut up! Thanks again for all of your support!!