1/9/2015
A frosty mist rolled out of my mouth the moment I stepped out of the trailer. Even though the temperature was frosty and the water beside the road was frozen, I felt comfortable. I ran bundled in a couple shirts, a wool beanie, compression pants and running pants, and a bandana. I was not going to let a little bit of cold slow me down. Yesterday I ended where the 231 met the 20. The numbers of the roads mean very little people that don’t inhabit the area but I thought it would be nice to shed some light on a wonderful road for runners.
As I ran, a never ending corridor of forest green trees protected me from nature’s elements. There were plenty of areas where I could turn into wooded areas but I stayed on the 20 for efficiency. I had gotten into the habit of running to my destination without too much meandering. Of course I broke that rule several times upon hearing of “must see” places. On my 131st day of running, Crystal and I had left the Pine Lakes RV park pretty late. Because of this, I ran without a pack and I focused on covering ground quickly. The quiet road felt pretty flat. This feature translated into a fast run. I met Crystal ten miles ahead in an hour’s time. There was only five miles until we reached Clarksville. I had that song by the Beatles in my head until I met up with Crystal a mile before town.
I had to change out of my sweat soaked clothes while Crystal prepared an okra soup with noodles. I didn’t want to run the risk of the sweat freezing on my skin. The lunch break was good but we didn’t linger too long and let the food digest. The smart bet was to get to Blountstown early and seek out a place to plug our trailer, otherwise the night would be very cold. It was a good thing there was only nine miles left for the day. While on the final stretch for the day I stumbled upon an old building that had been out of business for some time. The fantastic part of the discovery was that, antique cars were parked outside. Vegetation grew out of the rusting vehicles and it beckoned me to shoot some photos.
The search for a place to park and plug in was on. We talked to a couple businesses with no luck. After a few attempts, we then spotted a department store that was going out of business. We went inside and started stocking up on supplies. As luck would have it, Crystal found the manager and asked if we could use their plugs to heat the trailer. He said it was fine but that the neighborhood behind the store was known as the roughest neighborhood in town. Crystal said, “That’s alright, we’ve had several important items stolen from us already.” I was just thankful we would have warmth for one more night.
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