Seven of us ran at Government Canyon this morning. The morning was a damp 40 degrees with a stiff wind coming out of the north. We would be sprinkled with a light rain on and off after about an hour of running. Running on the trails in or after a heavy rain has been the subject of many a discussion within the group lately. Government Canyon has stated that they will close the park when the trails are very muddy to guard against trail erosion. One of the reasons is people will go around puddles and thus widen the trails. We are all guilty of that at one point or another. But early on today Connie showed true trail stewardship and ran right through a puddle without hesitation. She got cheers from us, and we all did the same.
The shoes I was wearing are not gore-tex so my feet got wet and cold. later I asked Connie if her shoes were of the gore-tex variety. She said no and mentioned how they are quite pricey. They are. I've had a couple pair through out the years.
I got to thinking about the money we spend on gear. Especially shoes. Then I saw an add for cigarettes. $4.39 a pack?! And that's if you buy two packs! I recalled how I thought I should quit smoking when the price reached $1.75.
What really helped me quit was exercising. More specific, bicycling. I remember getting to the point where I could ride 25 miles but not much more. I had cut down from smoking one pack a day to about 5 cigarettes a day. After a bike ride one day, I asked myself, "what do I like more? Smoking? or bicycle riding?" Bicycling won. Next week it will be 21 years since I quit smoking. And at $4.39 a pack, plus tax, running shoes at about $100.00 a pair are a better investment. I don't miss smoking that cigarette.
But keep me off the trails and I begin to go nuts.
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