Strength is Pain

I ran the same three today. I wasn't quite sure what to run today. I knew I wanted three but I could not figure out if I should give that loop another chance, or if I should just be safe and do the same back and forth run that I did the day before. I was still undecided when I began to run, because the two runs have the same start. The decision maker was not my own mind, however, but my own bladder.

I get this terrible bladder from my dad's side and it has already been a problem. When walking to a Red Sox game this summer I had to stop at almost any restaurant because I already had a belly full of beer. I have had to squeeze the living hell out of several dates' hands while the bus slowly drove to their formals because I already pre-gamed before that bus ride. I have spent most of the night in lines and bars and once got a bunch to the side of the head for pissing on some guys house. Granted all of these incidents had to do with alcohol but in general my bladder is far from any sort of reliable in really any situation, including the run today.

I thought about the three mile loop and I couldn't think of a bathroom on the 3 mile loop. Xpect Discounts probably doesn't have one in the back, car dealerships are way too clean for a dirty runner to set foot in, the ice cream place was outdoors, and the police station would probably let me use their's but I probably needed fingerprints before I used it. There was one bathroom I could think of on the route and it was the Gulf station across the post road which would mean I would have to the back and forth three miler.

When entering the Gulf Station bathroom where business savy Sicilian's or desperate horror movie teenagers would stash a body, I felt something euphoric. That bathroom was a mile away and I felt totally fine. I remember the beginning of the summer almost falling over after 1 mile and now I felt stronger then ever.

I continued to feel strong until I was crossing the post road for the second time and then for the second time in a row, I deteriorated. In the end of the run I could barely finish. I realized that this course, this back and forth course, is extremely difficult. There are rolling hills through the entire last half and they can almost break a runner, even someone skilled.