Careful what you joke about, you might get it

Last week a friend and I were going for a run south of Boulder on the Mesa trails. Our pre-run emails suggested a run of about 7 miles or somewhere around an hour. I was ready.

Standing in the parking lot getting ready to go she asks, ‘How are do you want to go?’ Jokingly I responded with ‘1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours???’ From there we headed off on our run going west on the Community Ditch trail. At about 4 miles we came to a junction and stopped for a moment. I knew where we were, and could have probably wound my way around on the trails in the area, but had no sense of how long any particular loop was. After a few moments of now what, we continued to head west. I thought for a moment, ‘I’m not sure how this will make 7 miles, but I’m game.’ And off we went.

A few more miles and we’re still going west. I’m beginning to realize this is no longer a 7 mile run! Still I’m not bothered – I was completely enjoying the run and the conversation and the company. Around mile 9 we ended up above Eldorado Springs – mile 9! This was the end of the trails and we headed back the 3 miles on the road to the car for a completely unexpected, and completely fun 12-miler.

Time for another run today with the same friend. I was planning on about 7 miles again for a bit of slow week heading towards a weekend half-marathon race. She was wanting to do 10 and I thought that’s only a little farther. So off we went again.

At mile 4.5 we reach an intersection and again I don’t really know the roads we’re on. Going left means a half mile out and then turn around and head back. Going right means a loop and loops are usually more fun than out-and-back. Going right probably also means it’s going to be more than 10 since we haven’t hit the farther corner yet. I stand there joking again about this run being a 10-miler out with the requisite 10-miler back. We go right (can you figure out what happens next?).

Two and a half miles later we come across some bridge construction. One of the workers – we’ll call him Grumpy – sees us running towards the constructions and heads out to meet us. It’s very clear he’s not going to let us thru or help us at all. We thought for a moment of climbing through some fences and running through some fields but Grumpy decides to pull out his phone. We’re not sure who he’s calling, but it can’t be good.

So we turn around to head back. Some quick math tells me this is going to be closer to 14 miles. Not quite the 20 I joked about, but clearly more than the planned 10! And we finish another great run together, adjusting to the adventure and enjoying the day and the run.

All joking aside … adventures like those are fun. They take you somewhere different, beyond plans and expectations, to just be with whatever comes up and wherever you are. I may think twice about joking around next time, but I’ll probably still do it – just to see what happens!