This morning, Labor Day, I dropped JP off at the Shelby Bottoms parking lot, where some of his MBA teammates were already milling about and trying to wake up. He and his cross country teammates are going for a long run (10 miles) on the trails at Shelby Bottoms.
Over the past 20 + years, I've done more long runs and, really, runs of varying lengths, on the grass trails at Shelby Bottoms. It's my favorite place to run, hands down. I have a difficult time putting into words how special that place is to me.
I've completed 1,000 miles in a years there, twice. I've run the trails in the snow. I ran there after the flood 2010, when the first part of the trails by the Cumberland River had the look and feel of a lunar landscape. I was running there several years ago - on the Cornelia Fort Trail - when I tripped over a root and broke my left big toe. I ran to the Cornelia Fort Airport when it was still operational and later, sadly, after it closed, grass and weeds growing everywhere and the airport buildings crumbling after they were abandoned. Over the years, I ran there with Tim Street, David Moyer, Ironman, Mike Matteson, and Mike Corley, sharing the trails with them. My home course.
I ran in the rain at Shelby Bottoms in 2008, crying, after I learned my close friend Benton's daughter, Elizabeth Patton, died the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'll never forget that run.
I ran, lost in my thoughts, sad and depressed, as my mother fought a losing battle with Alzheimer's disease. I composed her eulogy - and others' - on long runs on the trails.
Running the trails at Shelby Bottoms has kept me centered. It's been an outlet for me, one that I needed. Most of all the trails there have been a respite for me in the middle of a busy and sometimes stressful life, personally and professionally. I always leave a run there rejuvenated and feeling better about myself, and my life, than when I arrived at the park.
Some of the best runs of my life have been on the trails at Shelby Bottoms.
Of course, I've run with JP a few times at Shelby Bottoms. It was with great pride that I showed him what always seemed like my trails because I so rarely every saw anyone running on them during my runs. My hope is that, someday, he will grow to love the trails as much as I do and that maybe, just maybe, he will start running out there himself during high school.
So, it was with mixed emotions that I dropped him off this morning before I drove over to Dose on the east side for coffee and breakfast. I was envious, to be sure, of he and his teammates' youth and fitness level. 10 miles at Shelby Bottoms. Piece of cake. That used to be me, not too long ago.
I've had such an inconsistent year running. Covid-19 at the beginning of the year, followed by a sinus infection that lingered. Lately, especially, my low back has been hurting constantly. Work. Coffee and bourbon > running or so it's felt, at times. I've still been running but not at the same pace and distance.
For most the last month or two, I've wilted, hopefully only because of the heat. Last night at 8 p.m., I went for a three mile run in the neighborhood. I used to run a lot at night when the boys were much younger and we weren't as buys with after school and after work activities. I struggled to finish three miles, again. No stamina. No energy. Slower pace than normal.
I'm hoping it's the heat and not a line I crossed when I turned 57 last month. I'm not ready for my ability to run to be affected by my age, so I hope that's not the case. I'm changing some things up in September - "30 for 30" I'm calling it - no alcohol, no Red Bull, no sweets, no breads/pasta/potatoes (not things I meat much of, anyway), running or walking 30 minutes every day, reading 30 minutes a day a book that is inspirational or of the self-help genre (not my favorite).
If I'm not running better in October, I'll go to the doctor. It's past time for an annual physical examination, anyway.
Time to go pick up JP at Shelby Bottoms. I can't wait to hear about his run.
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