Not one of our smarter RUNS! Polly Ann Trail

Have you ever found yourself knee deep in what you thought was a good idea?

I had always bragged that Sky Diving was on my bucket list. Until I found myself in the Parking Lot of a surprise anniversary gift. I couldn't eat my words fast enough.
That memory is now on my list of "Favorite Moments" and I would totally do it again...I think!

This past weekend I had to get my long run in, 20 miles. Saturday night was really the only feasible option.
Lacey is the adventurer. She loves to run in different areas so when she suggested we run the Polly Ann trail in Lk. Orion it sounded brilliant. Flat, fast and virtually NO way of getting lost! The only down fall would be that we would be running in the dark.

From the shoot my body was fighting our grand plan.  When I removed my socks in front of Lacey we were both mortified by what we saw. After working all day, for 2 days, on my feet, no lunch, no break my ankles looked like sausages. The quilted pattern from my boots were actually pressed into my ankles and calves. "20 miles on these?" I panicked but finished getting dressed so we could get as much daylight as possible.

We parked the van a little after 4:30. It still seemed like a good idea.

WHEN I STARTED TO QUESTION OUR POLLY ANN EVENING RUN....
It could have been when my legs were pulsing and we had only ran 2 miles.
It could have been when we saw a deer staring at us but because it was dusk I thought it was a car driving down the trail!
It could have been when we passed a guy with two dogs. One of the dogs had that deep guttural growl that clearly said "RUN FASTER.". Just a few feet from watching him grab his dog 3 feet IN THE air from eating us, we  heard him yell. We then realized one of his dogs got loose. Lacey and I FROZE. "UGH, please get your dog..." When it was safe Lacey and took off in the dark.

It could have been running in the dark with weird noises all around us. We began to get jittery and creeped out especially when a Razor was on the path and passed us twice!

It could have been when we realized we didn't even know what CITY we were running in.

It could have been when we didn't have cell phone service.

It could have been when we passed a trailer park and I remembered all my creepy neighbors I had as a kid.

It could have been when I started looking for places to hide or realizing people could be hiding on us.

It could have been when the car almost blew the stop sign almost hitting Lacey.

"Lacey, I think we should turn around...I am getting a little creeped out."

I had watched too many episodes of Forensic Files the night before. My mind was getting the best of me. I saw myself getting attacked by some social outcast. The police were scraping under my finger nails for DNA to find my murderer.

We turned around at 8 miles out.

With several miles under my belt my legs felt even worse. They were pulsing. My left Achilles was aching. My calf was following its lead.

It was as dark as the ace of spades. We hardly saw these 2 guys on the trail coming towards us. We did see their dog coming after us without a leash though.

"AHH" we halted frozen with fear as the owners tried to grab him. Hardly able to see even with our lights we began to move towards them. One guy was on a segue, the other guy was clutching his UNLEASHED PIT BULL! I seriously about died as we cautiously passed them.

"LACEY RUN FASTER" I whispered.

The one guy laughed "HEY, watch out for the WEREWOLVES!"

I yelled back "I'm more afraid of your dog then the WEREWOLVES!"

It was a perfect evening for Werewolves. There was a dense fog that hung thick. The air was wet and damp. You couldn't see the moon or the stars it was so foggy.

We couldn't have finished fast enough for our brilliant idea to be nothing more that a memory.

I got 18 miles in. I could have done 20. I let my mind own my mileage from the beginning. I was at peace with it!

Next time we run the Polly Ann trail, it will be an all together brilliant idea with DAYLIGHT and MACE!

Anita