I was drivin' that Model A

My recollection is we would leave early from school to go compete.  Down to the locker room, change, roll up your stuff, and jump on the bus.  Our team was about 15 guys.  The group thinned out a few spots as some decided it wasn't for them.  Some of the older guys (I had not turned 15 yet) who had been around and competed in track were busy rubbing themselves down with Mint Glo, which was a strong smelling product like Bengay.  I guess the purpose was to warm up the muscles, but I didn't like the feel.  Things were pretty loose on the way down.  Once you arrived you got busy walking and touring the course so you knew where to be running.  This would turn out to be an issue in the future as you'd forget where to go.  As the time for the race approached I would get really nervous.  I'd get all geared up.  We would receive starting directions and soon after the little starters pistol would crack sending everyone flying out.  No specific instructions from coach.  You just made the best of it.  It would be my first experience in a varsity sport and I was pumped to be flying our green and white colors.

I put in 32.3 kilometers today.  It was a rather easy effort.  I started at 5:30am and just kind of made my way.  Just before halfway I stopped at the gas station my wife works at and picked up some Gatorade and a breakfast eggroll which was nasty.  My back began to tighten up around 13-14 miles.  This is the thing I'm trying to figure out.  Perhaps it can be overcome, perhaps not.  I intermixed about 15-20% walking and averaged 12:22 per mile.  Running like this allows you to cover great distances, but it takes mucho time.  I may take the dog out again like yesterday, but not in any exercise mode.  She seems to like doing whatever nonsense dogs do.  Dog owners know the drill.  This dog does like to eat snow and for whatever reason chew on a pile of leaves once every now and then.  There is one house with a chain link fence we pass that has 2-3 dogs that go bananas when we go by.  The owner comes out almost every time and yells for them to knock it off.  It seems to annoy him.  Cookie gets a rise out of it.  It's one of the things we both enjoy.

Big league tip for anyone who uses the roads a lot like I do.  Get off or be prepared to get wayyyy off the road for every passing vehicle.  There are multiple people every single day that don't give a rat's rump about you.  It is very similar as when you are driving and the lane coming the other way has another vehicle or obstruction in the lane and the car coming towards you never thinks twice about coming into your lane.  They are not going to wait, slow down, or yield to your right of way.  They don't care, are stupid, or in some manner have no grasp of the responsibility of piloting 4,000 pounds of metal within feet of another object.