What exactly were two runners doing walking down State Route 22 in Southern Pines this morning? Now that seems like a fairly silly question to be asking... one, aren't they runners? and two, how did they get there? Well my friends you are about to find out. But before we get two carried away, don't you want to hear about my week?
Now I know this might come as a surprise to some of you, but once again I was out gallivanting about the country in service to Uncle Sam. This little trip led me to the home of Country Music. My Tuesday run ended up being on the treadmill at the hotel. This was the first time I had been back on a treadmill since returning from the "Stan". Although I can stomach running on a treadmill, I wouldn't say that it's my first choice. So off I went (not going anywhere at all) for four miles of fun. As with most treadmill runs there isn't really much to talk about... so I won't. Lucky for me, my schedule Wednesday morning was pretty open and I was able to get my 8 miles in on the open road. One downside to staying at a hotel right near an airport is there is limited routes you can run. I was able to figure out a route with the help of the WalkJogRun App. What I wasn't mentally or spiritually prepared for was all the hills that just so happened to be along my route. I should have known better since I lived in that part of the country for a few years. But there I was screaming, "Why, God, Why!?!?!?!". Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration but you get the picture. My work schedule on Thursday once again forced me back into the small closet of a gym at the hotel and back on the treadmill. This time I was going to put those four miles to good use and practiced my reverse splits. That is one thing a treadmill makes easier... either keep up or get thrown off.
Let's get back to this story of those two weary runners. In our continual attempt at keeping the routes fresh and new, we decided to drive the 45 minutes from our house to the Reservoir Park in Southern Pines. There is a two mile trail that goes around... yep you guessed it, a Reservoir. Off this said trail there is multiple other offshoot trails that goes who knows where. I am sure there is someone that does know this jewel of information. I would even go out on a limb and say they have said information available on the world wide web. Well, lets just say this adventurous duo didn't really plan out a route. So off they went this way and that... down one trail till it dead ended, and then back to another offshoot. This time there were a few twists and turns and what appeared to be a loop trail. Well before they knew it their 8 miles was finished... what they didn't know was that the journey was long from over.
To make sure our hero's of the story didn't over do it, they began to walk thinking the loop they were sure to be on would finally intersect... it never did and they soon found themselves at a trail head nowhere near Reservoir Park and their vehicle. The city of Southern Pines was nice enough to place a map at the trail head which showed the way back. Option one was to retrace the trail they way they had come or to follow the road back to Reservoir Park. Option two seemed like the shorter distance so off they went. Its funny what strange things you happen on while wondering aimlessly down the road. As we passed a church parking lot there stood a fairly large woman with her arms raised to the sky screaming in some foreign language or speaking in tongues. That's stuff you just can't make up. Well our travelers did finally make their way back to Reservoir Park and their vehicle. Who would have thought there would be a three and a half mile cool down walk at the end of the 8 mile run. All in all it was a great run on some good trails. Next time I think we will plan our route out a bit more. Good thing tomorrow is a 17 mile day!!!
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