I knew early on in the year that I would miss the March 21st charity run, as I would be away with my boys in New York on that same weekend. While we had a great time seeing the sights of the “Big Appleâ€, in the back of my mind I knew the dreaded twenty mile run awaited me on my return on Tuesday evening last.
Seeing that I was going to take on this last big challenge of the training program on my own, I decided I would be kind to myself and do a relatively flat course run along the banks of the Charles River. So on Tuesday morning I googled the route and marked out a twenty mile run that I would endeavor to complete later that evening after work.
So at about 5:30pm I took off from the Allston car park and headed west along the river to Watertown. After about a mile I remembered I had forgotten my water, but I decided to keep going and pick it up on my way back after 10miles. On the route as I approached Watertown I met up with Louis who was doing a ten mile run that evening. He appeared to be sprinting versus my jogging and I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that he was going in the opposite direction to me.
I knew that I would have to take a loop off the river bank on the way back to make up some of the twenty mile run. The map suggested that I should take Mt.Auburn Road and continue for a mile until I came to a pond, then loop around and come back. It seemed like such a logical route to take until after running three miles up the road there was still no sign of the pond. I decided to ask a police officer if there was a pond close by however he was from Watertown and not familiar with the area. At this stage the glorious evening sun had set and it was getting pretty cold and so I decided to head back to Allston to get an extra layer and some fluids! I never found the pond and so I was either on the wrong road or someone moved the pond!
After about fourteen miles I got back as far as Allston and refueled and headed up back along the river front towards Cambridge for the last leg of the journey. As I ran the final few miles my mind wandered to how many new people I have gotten to know, having made the decision a few months ago to put my name in for a spot on the team. It all started back in August when I bumped into Jack on the Comm Ave carriage way one weekend morning and from there it took off. The brunches, the fund raising events, the Rare Diseases day run, the many loops of the pond in Chestnut hill and the many early morning Tuesday runs on some bitterly cold days, all were very special in that I got to know people working in Genzyme that I might never have had the opportunity or the pleasure of getting to know if I hadn’t decided to put my name in the hat! However as special as all these events were the one that I will remember the most will be the day Mary and I and the kids spent with my patient partner’s Christopher’s family out in Hopkinton. Anne and Ed invited us over for a delicious brunch which included their own eggs and home-made jams and we ended up staying for most of day. We had a wonderful time with a fantastic family!!
Aching and exhausted I finally made back to the car just after 8:30pm and headed for home.
I slept well on Tuesday night and awoke next morning with a great sense of achievement. I had completed my twenty mile run, solo!
Roll on April 21st!
Pat
Good job getting out there all alone and after work for a longer run. I find it takes a lot more effort at the end of the day to stick with your intentions, especially with a longer run.
Sounds like you are set for the Big Day Pat!