Through The Country

This weekend we made our way back to my hometown for the first time since January. I grew up in a little country town in Indiana, and now live in another world, the suburbs of Cincinnati. Coming back is fun and it brings back a lot of good memories. This weekend I planned to do about a 15 mile run and was ecstatic to do it on the country roads of Scottsburg. The weather was perfect, in the low 50's, with low humidity and a perfect blue sky. Leaving my parents home I had no idea where my legs would take me but quickly came up with a grand plan. Having no idea how far away a particular hill was I decided to run towards it. Just outside of a little village called Leota are the floyd knobs. Indiana is not know for its hills, but southern Indiana landscaped with the Floyd Knobs is scattered with beautiful peaks, none of which are very high but are constantly up and down. This particular hill is a destination for hikers. At it's peak is a trial head on the Knobstone Trial, named after the nearby village, Leota Trial Head. As I ran towards the hill I caught glimpse of it weaving my way through the curvy roads flanked by cornfields and cattle farms. Run down barns appearing to be waiting for the next strong wind to turn to a pile of wood were scattered through the country adding to the array of sites that enticed every step of the adventure. My watch seemed to be set on fast forward and every time I looked down I was shocked to see how much time had passed. I was truly gliding through the country side enamored by the simplicity of the country.
Approaching the bottom of the knob I prepared for the accent to come. I had already been running for almost an hour and knew the climb ahead would be challenging. Once engrossed in the climb the sharp turns and tall trees shielded my view of the daunting peak. Turning each sharp corner I began to expect to see the top and was let down several times before finely getting a glimpse of its peak. Once at the stop I turned around and throughly enjoyed the decent, smiling the entire way about my accomplishment.
As I said I planned to run about 15 miles but had not marked the course in advance. I stopped at 2:05:40 hoping it was close to 15 miles but thinking it might be a little short. After getting home my wife and I drove the course and I was thrilled to learn that it was in fact 15.75 miles. That means I ran a 7:58 pace on a course littered with hills and conquered a .75 mile hill a little over half way into the run. All said and done it was a huge confidence builder for me and I can not wait for my next adventure.

Today's Run
15.75 Miles
7:58 Pace