Santa Cruz Chronicles - day 8 

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Some days are just plain uneventful, while others will keep you jabbering into the next decade.  Just the same, not all days are going to be great ones, either.  Today was one of those days.  Just wanted to throw that out there.  It didn’t start out so horrible, though.  In fact, today started off with an impeccable “discovery run,” as I’m beginning to call them.  I had no idea where I was going to end up today, but I knew I wanted to log a solid 70 minutes of running.  I took off in the opposite direction alongside the coast in which I’ve been running, and ended up passing the Walton Lighthouse at the northern end of Monterey Bay, near the Santa Cruz Harbor, which was like a little slice of home.  I stumbled upon a pathway that enabled me to run in an adjacent fashion to the boats relaxing in the harbor and ran that pathway practically into the ground until it ended.  By then, it was time for me to turn around and head back.  I made it back home a little quicker than expected, so I made the executive decision to both tackle and conquer “Death hill” a block away from my house (more locally recognized as Miramar Drive).  I kid you not, it is THE steepest incline I’ve ever run up, and I hardly exaggerate when it comes to hills.  (I may or may not have been referred to as a mountain goat once or twice in my day).

By the time I got to work around 10:45 a.m. and stepped on the floor to start my shift, I could tell that something wasn’t quite right.  Unfortunately, once I realized I was experiencing a massive stomach ache, thanks to Mother Nature herself, I had to pound out the next 5 hours at work with raging abdominal cramps, trying not to be a wimp and complain about it.  Oddly enough, I felt loads better after catching up with my mom on a phone call during my lunch break, and by the time I was free for the day, the aches and pains had practically disappeared.  Thank goodness.