My Relaxing Run

(a post by Bo)

In an effort to not lose all my conditioning I've decided to run every other day during our vacation. I took my first run this morning at our Lake Anna campsite. The roads through the park were well paved with ample shoulders in case I needed to dive out of the way of an oncoming RV. I put in my earbuds, strapped on my water bottle and was off. I planned to run three miles because I didn't want to take up too much of our valuable travel time and I also wasn't familiar with the park. After running around the cul-de-sac where our camper was parked, I headed out on the main road that left the park. It was a beautiful morning, overcast and not too hot with the lush green forest on either side of me. At 2.5 miles, I turned around and headed back down the main road. This is when my plan for a short, relaxing run began to change.

I was tired of the current music playlist, so I asked Siri to queue up something else.

Me: "Playlist. Inspirational."
Siri: "I've found four local attractions with the name Inspirational. Would you like directions?"
Me: "No." (more slowly) "Pl-ay-list. In-spir-a-tion-al."
Siri: "Playing, Inspirational."

"Thank you," I said to no one in particular.

I continued my run until my tracking app announced in my ear, "Distance, 3.5 miles." I was still on the main road and hadn't seen our campsite yet. I figured I must have miscalculated the distance a bit and would come upon our trailer soon.

I attempted to converse with Siri again.

Me: "Next track."
Siri: "I've found 12 articles on crack. Would you like me to read them to you?"
Me: "No."
Siri: "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that last request."
Me: "I said, NO." "NEXT TRACK."
Siri: "Skipping track."

No thank you this time.

Just before my exercise app announced, "Distance, 4.5 miles," I saw a large lake at the end of the road. Even though we were staying at Lake Anna State Park, we had never bothered to find out where the lake was. Now I had discovered it. Along with the fact I had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

"Dammit!"
Siri: "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that last request."
"Shut up, Siri."

I hadn't told Dawn how long I planned to be out and I wondered if she was concerned at all. I doubled back a half mile and found where I had made my mistake. By the time I saw the trailer again, I had run over 5.5 miles, was no longer enjoying my relaxing run because I was drenched in sweat, and annoyed at Siri.

I can't wait to see what my run on Friday will be like.