Chi in the Forest

Last night I did Tussey Discovery #2, an 8-mile run, mostly flat or downhill, in the woods between Tussey Mountain and Whipple Dam. I felt great when I started out, but after the first couple of miles the dehydration from Wednesday's stomach flu started getting to me. I was really hurting in the middle of that, and slowed my pace a lot. Then, at about mile 6, I came into a flat section, and there was no one around me anywhere. It was just me, the woods, and the birds talking amongst themselves.
I don't know why, but it really re-energized me. I felt great for the next mile or so, until my shoe came untied. I thought I could finish without tying it, but soon enough my foot started to slip. When you've been running a certain time (for me, usually it's about 40 minutes), you get to a place where it feels better to keep running than it does to stop. Words cannot describe how much it sucked to stop, bend down, and then start running.
My goal was to run it in an hour, and I finished in 1 hour, 44 seconds. Hmmm, I wonder how long it took me to tie that shoe?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, Sue rode her bike up and over Beckwith Road, and turned around and came up. That's a nasty climb, especially the trip back (there's a short section that's gotta by 20%+ incline, going around a bend). Yay, Sue!