Running two counties away

Yesterday, I ran in Indiana, Indiana County. The last time I ran in this area was 1996 at the latest, which was when I moved from there to the Burgh.

Indiana County is where it all started for me. I ran laps in gym class there. At track practice, I ran around the track that circled the football field. I ran around my neighborhood for evening and the occasional morning runs. I ran my first few 5k races there, the Torrance Run for Mental Health and the Blairsville Blast.

But last evening I also ran with a running partner, my 24-year old cousin, Annie. The last time I ran with someone was probably at the beginning of the Great Race in 2002. But when you are running over six miles, it is nearly impossible to keep pace with the same person, so I am guessing I was flying solo within the first two miles.

Fortunately, Annie and I managed to run the entire 2.6 miles together, though I did have to ask her to slow down just a bit after the first couple of minutes. I do have about 14.5 years on her, and she typically runs most every day. Plus, as has been chronicled here, I have not been keeping up with my running over the summer, just as I feared.

We ended up completing the 2.6 miles in about 26 minutes. I probably could have gone farther, but since I had just run two days earlier and this run was hilly, I call it a success. Even better, considering before we knew exactly how far we had run, I feared it was only about two miles.

I am thiscloseto signing up for the Regent Run Around the Square. I think I have almost two weeks to sign up for the early bird registration. Here is hoping I will just do it.