Moving on..

Notice how my stop doesn't equal my start? My plan was 15 miles which equals 3 loops around Stone Mountain. I started out running in the opposite direction of cyclist traffic. I used to run in the same direction as cyclist, but then realized that if I ever wanted to possibly meet up with one particular cyclist, I had to see him coming. I knew he wouldn't be at Stone Mountain today, but thought I might as well practice running in that direction. And honestly, I'm trying to get him out of my system, so might as well keep my options open. At about mile 3, I notice a cyclist easily climbing a hill.. he's cute and looks familiar... maybe I've seen him before and he's just now catching my eye. I smile at him as he passes. The next time we pass, I smile and he smiles back. For the next few passes we both exchange smiles. I fantasize that I could have this guy if I wanted.. I think about saying "You're cute!" at the next time I see him, but I don't.. At the next pass he waves. I wave back. The next pass he says, "good morning" and I respond "HI". OMG.. I'm loving this flirt as it is keeping me distracted from the heat induced dehydration that I'm struggling through. I mentally backtrack and realize we cross paths about every 15 minutes. I make sure I'm looking like a strong runner each time I anticipate him appearing. I wonder how long he will be riding. Then he takes me off-guard and slows down to a stop at our next pass. We exchange names and he asks how much longer I am running. I'm at mile 11, so I say 4 more. He says I'm strong to be running 15 miles. He has 3 more laps to go and says something about seeing me later.

Then fast forward.. I made the mistake of carrying only muscle milk on my last lap. It provided great nutrition, but was thick and I desparately needed water, and lots of it, in this 95 degree heat. I stopped at each fountain and drank as much as I could. Yet that still wasn't enough and I had a hard time keeping my heart rate within my target range. So I walked the majority of mile 13. At 13.92 miles I reached the mountain walk-up trail parking lot. I thought about going toward the restrooms and filling my bottle with water, but then thought I would just walk to my car where water awaited in the cooler in the trunk. As I was weighing my options, I see a guy waving at me. He's in different clothes now, so I don't recognize him at first, but decide I should stop to say hi to whoever it is that is waving at me from afar. It's the cute cyclist.. I explain my dehydration and he offers me his bottle. I drink half of it and appologize and he says no problem that he has more. We leads me over to the shade to talk. He rode 50 miles today and he's impressed with my strength to run 15 miles? It turns out, he lives in the same town as me. He has two daughters, one that is the same age as my daughter. I ask her name and I immediately recognize it and tell him that she and my daughter are friends. He asks me to lunch or to just get something to drink and I have learned my lesson from the dude I'm trying to forget and say yes. He drives me to my car (hence the lost mile) and then he follows me to the nearest open restaurant I see (did I mention major dehydration?).

I'm still not completely over Mr. Sexy, and honestly doubt I ever will be, but it's time to move on..