15 Miles of Total Entertainment!

by Stacy Hogle

Today has been a great day. I never thought I would say those words after a 15 mile run, but I definitely mean them today. I have been dreading this run all week...this is the longest distance I have ever attempted to run. Earlier in the week Lindsey said that she and Trent would be in Fort Gibson to see her family for the weekend. They were going to come up Friday night so we decided to run together this morning. I would get to Hatbox early and she would meet me around 8:30am when I was hitting the 9 mile mark. She is training for the Route 66 Half Marathon and her training schedule called for a 6 mile run. This was going to be perfect!! I was so excited to have someone to run with and push me through the last of the run and help encourage her through the 6 miles she was running. Unfortunately it did not work out, her dog had been at the vet and Trent had dental work done Friday and didn't think he could make the drive from OKC Friday night. I don't blame him a bit!! I was bummed most of the night since I had really looked forward to running together. Justin could see that and was trying to find ways to help. He had to be at the duck blind drawings by 9:30am so it seemed like he wouldn't be able to do much.

Right before we went to bed last night I noticed that he was missing for a while... To my surprise he had aired up the bike tires and put it in the back of his truck! He said we were going to get up at 5am (uggg!) and be at the running trail by 6am so we could finish the run around 8:30am giving him time to get to the blind drawing. I was so excited, not to mention love struck, that he would do that for me!! We made it to the trail by 6am, right after a quick 'pit-stop' for Justin at the Kum & Go (gross name, I know!) convenience store. It was still really dark out and the trail is not lit so we ran the parking lots for 2 miles before heading out on the trail. Justin used to ride his bike alot growing up and in college so his skills started coming back to him really quickly. Out of the corner of my eye I would see him jumping a curb or zooming by me like Lance Armstrong. I felt good, the weather was great and I was excited to have someone to share the run with. It was light enough to hit the trail so we did. I kept running through little spider web strings that would stick to my face...eww! That was easy until I hit the mother of all spider webs. I swear it was the size of my whole body with the middle of it hitting me right in the face. Justin didn't know what to think when I screamed and started waving my hands like a mad man trying to get the webs off of me. Then I started wondering if there was a spider and its babies riding on my back...gross and creepy for sure. We regained our composure and kept running. At the end of the trail I needed to make a quick pit stop at a different Kum & Go then we got back to it. I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am that Justin was there. He had a great attitude and was so cute on the bike. He was my mobile water boy, I felt like a pro! We continued on and decided to go back through the parking lots to break it up a bit before doing the trail again. Justin rode ahead of me for a while and I wondered why he was sitting funny on the bike. He only had one butt cheek on the seat and was alternating cheeks! He said the seat wasn't wide enough and I think it was a fun game for him to pass the time, I don't know but it was hilarious. He went down a different street and realized we had access to the old runway. Hatbox used to be an airport back in the day. We started running the runways, which was really neat and helped add a few miles to the run. At 9.5 miles I stopped to take a gel and wash it down with water. The vanilla flavor tastes like cake icing and makes a huge difference keeping my energy up. After a minute break I went out to finish the runway while Justin was riding with no hands on the bike next to me. We hit the entrance to the trail again with 3.5 miles left. If we went out 1.75 miles and came back we would end up at the truck, so that's what we did. There was a girl running ahead of us on the track our last few miles and I made it my goal to catch her. It helped having a challenge to make the last little bit go by faster. I ended up passing her with a half mile to go and it felt so good! Not to mention that was my fastest mile of the whole trip. It's amazing what the body will do when you put your mind to it.

Justin was a trooper, I don't know about you but 2 hours and 35 minutes on the bike doesn't sound like fun to me He was a huge support and I don't know if I would have enjoyed the run or finished with a faster time without him. I love that man!

15.12 miles in 2 hrs 35 min 44 secs!