34th ride

On this clear Saturday morning, I did my longest ride yet, going to the small village of Dexter via the Ann Arbor-Dexter Road, and coming back along Huron River Drive. This destination had significance for me, as Dexter was the site of the last running race I was able to do—the Holiday Hustle, a 5K that took place there on December 3, 2011 (I had also run it each of the previous three years). While running it, the arthritic inflammation of one of my vertebrae that eventually caused me to realize I could run no more began to affect me, so that by the end of the race I could barely stand upright. This picture, from near the end of the race, shows the pronounced list, or sag, sideways with which I was contending—the starting time of 4:30 p.m. at that time of the year meant that we finished in near darkness.

Coming back today, I followed the road that is the major spine for the Ann Arbor-Dexter Run, a large local event that takes place late each spring. 5K, 10K, and half-marathon distances are offered, and I always wanted to run the half-marathon, but never was able to. I was in the best shape and most nearly did it in 2008 (June 1), but a couple of weeks before the run, Michelle caught a heavy cold from her students and passed it along to me, and I had to step down to the 10K portion of the run. Still, it was fun to ride along many of the areas I had run on that day, including the memorable spot where Maple Rd. comes down a large hill and meets Huron River Dr. After running down it at the beginning of the race, and then doing the lion's share of the run along the drive, we had to climb back up it at the end—a stretch that then race director Hal Wolfe aptly dubbed the "Maple Monster." I also did the 10K portion of it in 2009 (when I broke an hour—a time good for me, but quite poor by real running standards) and 2010, as well as the 5K portion of it in 2007.

Today's long ride took me 2 hours 37 minutes. However, I was slowed considerably by heavy traffic (both pedestrian and vehicular) in Ann Arbor. As I neared Michigan Stadium (the "Big House") public address announcements made the reason clear—today was commencement for the University of Michigan, and already, before 9:00 a.m., people were beginning to gather for that. And I had taken my water bottle and hoped to stop for a short break somewhere along the river on the way back; but as it turned out, I just kept going, being afraid that if I got stopped, it would be too difficult to overcome inertia and get going again.