A turtle, a butterfly & war wounds

Back at Kennesaw Battlefield trails on Sunday. Got a late start cause I slept in (and could have kept sleeping). I am able to sleep in a bit now as we are having a very unusual August in terms of temperatures. Typically, August is the hottest month for Atlanta, but not so this year. Of course, this is absolutley fine by me. It’s been a wonderful reprieve. Humidity is still high, but temps have dropped some.

So, back to the trails. I started at the same location as last week; geared up with water and about 3 gels. About 1-2 miles in, i was looking down and there was a decent sized turtle there on the trail. TURTLE. It was actually pretty cute to see it. There he/she was just chugging along trying to make their way to the other side of the trail. I quickly stepped around/over turtle and kept going. Pretty cool. I have to say, I WAS moving a BIT faster than the turtle. But, not much. HA!

As beautiful as it was out there, I was ready to stop after 1 hour. Then 2 hours. Right after the 2 hour mark, i felt like i just kinda got into a zone…not a “high”, but as if i’m in a trance or something…with not a care in the world. I wonder what is happening in my brain at that time…what is my body’s physiological response? Somewhere around this time, I saw a large, yellow, beautiful butterfly pass in front of me. Really, really pretty.

And then i started to get a sense of the wounds taking place; the CHAFING wounds. I usually put on some body glide, but for some STUPID reason, today I didn’t. I could feel the area underneath my sportsbra on my back just rip into my skin. AUUUUGGGGHH. My shorts were drenched and even though, I wasn’t in any pain yet between my thighs, I knew i soon would be. But…I still had to complete the run. The final stretch is just over 1/2 mile of a semi-steep climb….the last thing i want after running for 3hrs. But, I bucked up and said to myself, “c’mon, make it up, all the way to the top.” My legs were burning and as I was pumping my arms, i felt like i had nothing in my gut, just pure will. I made it to the top and my heart was beating fast. Good to know I’m so alive!!!

Sure enough, the CHAFING pain kicked in pretty soon. I drove home and hopped in the shower and pain sounds were abundant in my little bathroom…the water, hot or cold, splashing against my raw skin was pain i would not wish on an enemy. It had never been this bad for me. It continued to hurt for rest of day and because of that, I was not able to do a 2nd run as i have been doing these past Sundays. I kinda missed it, actually.

WEEK TOTAL = 33+/_ miles