10 Miles, A Gate Key, and Some Tacos

I had a late start to my run this weekend. I'm not sure why 10 miles felt so much more than last week's nine. But here are a few notes about:

• Unusual accessory - I carried that bulky gate key on my hydration belt. Sometimes the gate isn't open and there's no pedestrian entrance, so that tagged along for the run. (The exit gate ended up being open, but if I turned back to leave it behind at the apartment, I would've also just crawled back into bed.)

• Unusual tan - Since I started late, the sun was up before I reached my halfway mark. My compression socks reach my knees and my shorts are just a few inches above them. So I'm left with a tan on my knees and about an inch or two above them.

• Unexpected hello - I know I was on a road runners and cyclists use, usually I'll hear them approaching. I didn't this time and it was still dark. So a woman's gentle "hello" startled me.

• Side note: So it's dark and not the best lit place and another runner passes me, wearing black. No reflection vest. No headlamp. Not even light from a phone strapped to her arm. Mind-boggling.

I wanted to stop at a convenience store near the end of my run, so I just circled it for the last quarter-mile of my run and then went inside. I bought some tacos, CLIF bars and a chocolate milk. But this still left me about half a mile from my apartment.

So if anyone spotted me for that last part, they saw me slowly walking with my oversized reflector vest, visor with a headlamp (while the sun is already out), arm reflector, hydration belt, handheld water bottle, drinking chocolate milk and carrying a bag of tacos. I'm sure I was a shining example of what not to do while running.

Anyway, I had shared a banner in an earlier post that was on the McAllen Marathon page. It read, "A half-marathon is just a 5K with a 10-mile warmup." Well, I got the warmup done.

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