10,000 Maniacs - These are days

5-15-12  Thirteen painful miles today.  I was really trying to go 16 or 18 miles but didn't make it.  I think there were several things wrong.   First, I waited too late to get started and it was hot.  I started about 10:00, and it was about 65 but the temp went up to 75 quickly.  Second, I didn't eat any breakfast.  All I had was a granola bar at about 7:00am.  Third, I chose a route near my house that was very hilly.  There is a new park that just opened.  It is on a piece of property along Riverside Drive where there used to be a bait, tackle and beer carry out store.  Never went in the place.  Never really had the need plus it looked dingy.  A lady owned the store and one day, she shot and killed one of her employees, a 17 year old boy who was also a father and engaged.  I wanted to run to the park which is about 5 miles away and then run back, adding a few detours along the way.  I had hoped there was some sort of memorial to the boy, but there wasn't anything that I saw.  The park is named after some guy named, Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

The Bait Store, long a thorn in the side of the tiny community's notoriously uptight zoning commission, has been razed to make way for parkland. A house on the property will be demolished soon, said Dublin spokeswoman Cristie Keller-Wilt.
The store at Hard Road and Riverside Drive had run-ins with Dublin officials over U-Hauls from its rental business parked in its lot, but gained the most notoriety in May 2000, when store owner Carol Finkes fatally shot teenage clerk James Coyan III inside the store.
Finkes was found guilty in 2001 of aggravated murder and tampering with evidence and is serving 20 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. The Bait Store went into receivership following the killing and later closed.
Dublin City Council agreed in March to buy the property for $1.9 million to develop into parkland. The city hopes to finalize plans for the site next month as part of its 2006 capital improvement package.

So that was in 2006, now in 2012, the park has opened.  Here is the background.
Kosciuszko's Land Grant Turned into Public Park

The City of Dublin, Ohio has officially opened "Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park" on a portion of the land that was awarded to this Polish-American hero for serving in the Continental Army. The 35-acre park truns along Hard Road from Scioto High School to Riverside Drive.

When local resident Deborah Solove realized that she was living near a portion of Kosciuszko's former lands that had been taken from his estate, she talked with the city's Director of Parks & Open Space, Fred Hahn. Hahn said that he had never heard of Kosciuszko, "So I went down to the Dublin public library and checked out a book called The Peasant Prince by this guy named Alex Storozynski and really became fascinated with the life and times of Kosciuszko."

This kicked off a process by the City Council to set aside a portion of this land to be named Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park, which today includes a series of educational signs regarding Thaddeus Kosciuszko, as well as 1.7 miles of trails, fishing ponds and a gazebo.

"Years ago, this land was taken away from Kosciuszko," Solove said. "Now, the city of Dublin gave it back."
Anyway, there are steep hills on the trails in the park.  The park is also close to the Scioto River so that naturally means that I am running downhill toward the river bank and then up and down the trails and then back up to the main roads and my route home.  I looked at my Garmin

my view from the park bench where
I stretched and found a second wind

Dashboard to see what my average elevation gain is when I run in my neighborhood or over at the Olentangy trail.  My average gain is somewhere between 27 and 98 feet. My elevation gain on this day was 419 feet!  No wonder I was wiped out.  I started heading back for home sooner than planned, very disappointed.  How can I even think about running 26.2 miles if I can't run 16 or 18?  At about 9 miles, I got a text from Kai, she said "Can't wait to hear how your run went.  You can do it.  Don't talk yourself out of it."  Okay, so that gave me a extra ounce of motivation and I turned back to take a loop around another lake.  Decided to sit down at a park bench and stretch and then keep going.  I made it four more miles, better than going straight home, but I was really beat.  My left hip was hurting, my right shin was starting to hurt, I was hungry and thirsty.  My feet even hurt on the bottoms.  When I got home, I couldn't get in the house fast enough to drink.  I had a Gator Ade brand chocolate recovery drink and then a Sobe flavored water.  I went to take a shower and felt whoozie standing.  I just didn't feel right.  30 minutes later I was in the car on my way to school to pick the boys up for a doctor appointment and forgot food!!

In the early part of my run, I went through Emerald fields, an area in Dublin with large athletic fields, baseball diamonds and playgrounds for kids.  There is a pond there with huge, loud bullfrogs.  I had to stop and listen for a minute, I love that sound.  I also saw some birds that I am not familiar with.  I got some pictures, not that good but they were so beautiful and there were several of them.  I am pretty sure that they were Red Winged Blackbirds based on pictures and reading I have since done about their habitat.  I think this is the bird that I saw.

10,000 Maniacs is a band that I am pretty sure I first heard when I was with my brother Chris.  I don't mean in concert, just at his house or somewhere and he had it on his iPod, we didn't have iPhones yet.  Natalie Merchant is great, I love her music.  I have her Unplugged CD and love every song on it, but this is the one that I chose as my favorite for today.  Similar to the words in the song, these days that I have been training are surely days that I'll always remember.  I am blessed and lucky to be able to do this.  I don't know if I'll finish the marathon, but I will try.  And if I don't finish, I will know that I did the best I could given the circumstances, injuries and all.  Maybe I'll do another and have more wisdom and experience.  Who knows.  Kai always says that I should listen to my legs.  I think that is the same thing said in this song. "See the signs and know their meaning".  Probably not what Natalie meant, but this is their meaning for me.

These are the days

These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you
These are days that you’ll remember
When May is rushing over you
With desire to be part of the miracles
You see in every hour
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you are touched
By something that will grow and bloom in you
These are days
These are the days you might fill
With laughter until you break
These days you might feel
A shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
Then you’ll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning
It's true
Then you’ll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they’re speaking
To you, to you