The 19th

June 19th, otherwise known as Juneteenth, was a week ago. The new National Holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. There is also an online news organization called, the 19th. This blog post is about none of that. It's about Dan's 19th mile (out of 19 miles) today.

Dan's long runs haven't been so hot lately. Wait. Let's rephrase that. Dan's long runs have been too hot (although not very good) lately. The same goes for most of his recent running. The heat and humility sure do take a toll. (For a slightly more complete list, there's heat, humidity, hills, heavy legs, humility, hubris, and so on...) Yet, today's run hasn't been all that terrible.

He called out some friends, since companionship is never a bad thing, and they responded. He also got lucky with some slightly cooler weather. And he hadn't been on Lester Rail Trail, his old long-run stomping ground for a while. Put all that together, and you have the ingredients for a decent Day. And so it was, at least until now.

Miles 16-18 had been alone since all the peeps had to leave. They have real lives, you see. These are usually the tough miles, where a run becomes a slog. Today, however, Dan had managed to keep going at his decent just-under-ten=minute-per-mile-pace. But could he do it for one more?

Dan can call it quits at 18 and legally (by his own standards) still consider this a long run. Today, however, he is indeed going the extra mile. Literally. Lo and behold, even that one is somewhat decent. Should he go even one more? Call it an even, nice-round-number twenty-miler?

Nah.