Nice Run, Shame About The Car Break-In

When I woke on Sunday morning to the sound of pouring rain, my first thought was to turn over, go back to sleep and forget about the 20 miles I needed to run in preparation for the Frederick Marathon on May 4th. However, the competitor in me and my desire to run a great race soon had me hopping out of bed, getting dressed and driving the dozen or so miles to the trail where I run most of my long runs. On reflection, maybe I should have stayed in bed…

The run itself was a great one, particularly the last seven or eight miles where I felt really strong and was able to tick off mile splits of between 6:52 and 6:17, but let me tell you, the sight of a smashed passenger window at the end of a hard 20 miler is enough to make your heart sink and wonder what life’s all about.

The rain was quite heavy at 6:45am when I set off, but as usual and prepared for all possible weather conditions, I had spare shoes, shirts, socks, gloves and a towel in a sports bag that I’d planned to utilize half way through my run if I needed to. Usually I stow the bag away in my trunk, lock the car and just carry a key with me in my shorts pocket. Today, for no particular reason that I can recall, I stupidly left the bag on my passenger seat. Big mistake.

The first 4 or 5 miles on the trail were a slog. It was quite chilly, the rain was heavy and the trail in many places resembled a swamp. My shoes and socks were soaked, my legs black with mud and with hardly anyone else on the trail I questioned what I was doing. All I could think about, however, was the Frederick marathon in 4 weeks time and how bad it could be if I didn’t run 20 miles today. At some point around the 30 minute mark, and almost by magic, I actually started to enjoy myself and the thought of 20 miles turned from a chore into a challenge.

My route took me back to the car at around 13 miles, and still feeling good I decided not to stop and change into dry clothes/shoes after all. I looped around the parking lot, jogged past my car and headed back to the trail to run another 7 mile loop. Several of these miles touched goal marathon pace, more runners were now on the trail and the mood of my long run was boosted.

Even the fueling strategy I was experimenting with today seemed to be working and the remaining miles quickly ticked away. Now, with the bulk of the hard work done, thoughts turned to warm, dry clothes, clean shoes and socks and a post-run recovery drink. Longer term thoughts turned to breakfast, a hot bath and an hour nap before taking an afternoon trip to see my daughter, but soon these thoughts would be erased and put to the back of my mind.

I finished up the 20 miles with a surprisingly quick 6:17 mile and ended up about a quarter mile from my car. As I slowly walked back to the parking lot where I’d parked a few hours earlier I looked at my MINI and thought “That’s funny, I don’t remember leaving my window down.” Of course, as soon as I had the thought, it dawned on me – I hadn’t left the window down, some one had smashed the glass and grabbed my gear bag from the passenger seat. Oh yeah, just for the sake of completeness they’d also stolen my wallet and phone from the glove compartment.

Anyway, long story short – found someone in the local Subway with a cellphone, called my wife who in turn called the police who promptly turned up, wrote their report, took fingerprints and did all they could do. The past two days have been all about cancelling credit cards, checking bank accounts and getting the window repaired etc. etc.

Lots of hassle for me, but life goes on, no-one was hurt or injured and next time I’ll probably just leave my car unlocked to save them smashing the glass.

On a somewhat positive note, I had a great 20 miler which took my weekly mileage to 65 – the highest it’s been for a very long time. And, aside from the break-in, it’s been a good week and I still managed an afternoon trip to see my daughter. I’ll grab the one hour nap some other time.

One last thing Mr Thief, if you get a chance to listen my iPod Shuffle, I’d love to hear what you think of the Kara Goucher Endurance Boost workout…..