In a fog..

Here's the scene: Girl running down a country road enveloped in fog. Road is lined by barren trees and patches of old snow and leaves. The only sound is her footsteps and labored breathing. Every breath is marked by a cloud of condensation. As she passes one house she notices a jack-o-latern hoisted on a stick, half rotted from nearly 5 months of decomposition. She keeps running deeper and deeper into the fog, road nearly invisible ahead.

Some scene from a horror movie. Nope, just a replay of my entire 11 mile run this morning. Running in the fog is creepy. I was so excited to get back out on my normal long run route after having to find alternate paths this winter. In the winter, the hills and curves become a little too scary when snow banks and ice patches line the road and make it almost impossible to make room for passing cars. My favorite run takes me down to the river where I follow it as it cuts a channel forming an island just south of here. There are corn fields, eagle's nests, "lakes" that water fowl congregate in. I've crossed paths with foxes, deer, and many a hawg in the summer time. It's about as close to rural running as you can get this close to the cities. There are hills and curves and curvy hills that make it challenging and fun at the same time. But add in dense fog and it becomes the thing of nightmares.

Running in the fog is like running through a black hole. Time and distance become immeasurable. Familiar landmarks are swallowed up. The tops of hills looked like the edges of cliffs. I might as well have been running on Mars. But I pressed on, mainly because my options were to keep going or turn around, and well, the distance would have been the same either way since it's a giant loop with very few options to cut it short (another reason I like the run.... I can't cheat). And it helped a little that I let my imagination run wild. You make great time when you're trying to convince yourself that an axe murder isn't hiding in the brush waiting to jump out and chop you to bits.