The Run That Cost Me Five Dollars

In Which I Lose a Challenge: Thanks to NYC Running Mama and the Patriots, yesterday I had to run 4 miles. The challenge was that you picked a winner and if your team lost, you had to run the number of miles of the point spread. Well, as you all know, the final score was 21 - 17, which means four miles for this girl. I am not really a Pat's fan, but since the Niners were already out and Mr Lovely is a Pat's fan AND I do like Brady, I went for the Pats. I did not watch the game; I only googled the score Sunday night to see how many miles I would be running yesterday. I would have run anyway, but it is kind of fun to run for a "reason". 

I did four miles for Brady and another 1.7 for myself.

In Which I Discover a Trail Fairy: I have been running on the trails a lot lately. Luckily, we have had very little snow in our area this year, so they are fairly clear of moisture. However, the other day we had a bit of a storm and when the trails finally dried up enough for me to run on them, I discovered quite a mess. There were branches and trees everywhere. I spent the majority of my first run clearing the trail of debris. 

Here is an excerpt from my running journal that day: I ended up running (and walking) 6.24 miles. It took me an hour and twenty four minutes. Here is my pace chart, so you can see how many times I stopped to throw branches off the path. All in all, it was a struggle today.

Ug. But today I noticed that the trail was looking clearer. I have been getting rid of a few branches each day, but the trail is still by no means totally clear. BUT. It is clearer than I left it. Somebody else must be clearing it! Thank you trail fairy!

In Which I Almost Eat Dirt: I was so excited that the trail was clear and that today's run was So Much Better than the one I was mentioning above, that I got overly excited, sped up, tripped over a rock, stumbled, arms flailing, flew through the air and caught myself from falling with one finger upon the side of the bank. Really. I did not fall, but I must have stumbled for a good 12 feet before finally righting myself. Luckily there was no one around to see me (except maybe the trail fairy?)

In Which I Lose $5: Today, as mentioned above, I felt really good, the trail was clear and my run was for a good cause, and so I was running a bit faster than normal. Because of this, my body was a bit more bouncy than normal and my iPod fell out of the holder on my belt. This belt not only holds my iPod, but I also put my keys and an emergency $5 in there. You never know when you may need an ice cream, or a bottle of water, or to bribe a policeman or to pay someone to use their phone... Actually, I run in the boonies, so most likely I would spend my $5 bribing a deer or a squirrel, since I never see another human being on my run. Ever. I always carry the spare fiver anyway. 

Today, my bouncing caused the iPod to bounce out of my belt and down the mountain, causing me to spend several minutes climbing down the side of a hill to retrieve it. Once I returned it to it's rightful place, I continued on my run for Brady. Little did I know, but the $5 had fallen out as well. I think I know where it is and I will probably look for it next time, but darn it, it was at the very top of the hill (see below graph for elevation)! I wasn't planning on going that far up the hill for at least another week. 

So, is it worth going three miles up the hill to try to find it? Or should I leave it for the trail fairy? 

Did you watch the Superbowl? Have you ever fallen while running/walking?