The Accidental Run

16 miles was our long run assignment for this week.

Our past few long runs have been completed by running through neighboring towns, so we decided to change it up a little and give the Perkiomen Trail another shot. Not only did we decide the surface would be better for Ted's knee than blacktop and sidewalks, but quite frankly, the route we had been doing was growing old, and I could use a change.

We studied the trail online, and came to a conclusion. From the online trail map, the closest thing we could get to 16 miles (without going over) was 15.75. We decided that was close enough, and the plan was to drive to Oaks, park one car, then drive up to Crusher Road in Green Lane, and have it a Point A to Point B run.

We left the house around 5:30, and about an hour later, we were at Green Lane, stretching (and shivering), and ready to get started. The weather was cool and crisp, the sun had just started coming up, and the trail was beautiful with the changing leaves and the orangy hint of dawn.

We stopped about an hour and a half into the run and hit restrooms and filled up the water bottles. We also decided to check the map along the trail to determine how many miles we had run and how many we had to go.

That was when we realized that what you see online is not always the case.

The map along the trail informed us that the distance from Crusher Road to Oaks was not 15.75, but rather 16.75. But no choice we had, and we kept pushing forward.

And we did it! It's nice to think we almost did 17, and didn't mean to, and we were okay. We're really sneaking up on the 20 mile mark, and each week, I get more and more confident that we can do this--I mean really do this.

And it's wonderful and I'm enjoying every single painful moment of it.