Hard eight on the Ides of March

It was a tough 8.2 mile run today. I remember why it's useful to run with people. It was easily the most gorgeous running day of the year. It was 3C, sun was beating down, and there was just a whisper of a wind. Grasshopper, who was booked for an 18-miler (gawd, I don't miss those AT ALL), graciously allowed me to join him for part of this epic run. It cost me a glass of water when he showed up at my door at about 12:15 pm, a little later than we'd semi-planned but that was entirely a miscommunication.

We set off. By this time I'd already redrawn his proposed route. I had to be at my sister's for 2pm before she was heading to the airport for a week on the West Coast (I should mention, she's doing a St. Patty's 5K this weekend. That is not the principal reason for going, but cool). I had shortened Grasshopper's route by 2 miles, with the expectation that after the loop down to the water and back to my house, I'd make up the balance by running to my sister's.
There weren't too many stops. A few traffic lights. A water stop and washroom break at the local running shop. A small detour into a new cupcake shoppe I didn't know about (I stop at all cupcake shops, whether or not I intend to buy something. I really wanted one, but it's not really intra-run food is it?) Note to self, stick to completely residential roads so there's no danger of window shopping.

The scariest part of the run was not the hill at close to Mile 4. It was when Grasshopper nearly got mowed down by a careless driver coming out of a driveway. It was probably a good thing that we slowed down for a microsecond to do a Jellybean transaction (he was carrying and passing one to me). The driver didn't seem too apologetic, and we just kept on going.

Eventually we made it back to my house, where I had a small costume change. I ditched the jacket and the protective pant layer (for the puddles). And we had another water break. And then off to my sister's. At this point, I was running better. Must be the flat road. I'm semi-concerned about these Cinci hills.

My breathing was pretty labored today. I struggled at times to keep up, mostly on the inclines and hillier portions. But I'm glad I had a running buddy today. I would have walked way more. And ran much slower. About 22 miles in total for the week! How's that for picking it up.... I had a nice long nap. Then proceeded to work on my taxes. Now I'm going to take a break and go run in the virtual world of Outland and kill some stuff.