Lost Stuffed Puppy Bonus Miles

Despite the hangover and lack of sleep, the unofficial post-reunion party brunch we attended Sunday morning was a lot of fun-- grazing on a great spread in my friend's beautiful house catching up with a some of my high-school classmates.  (In fact, I had to travel to southwest Ohio to finally see a friend (3rd from the right) who lives in the Bay Area.)   My family was among the last to leave after we stragglers took a short walk in the neighborhood.  Well, almost the last-- my hosting friend sent me a message on facebook, which luckily I soon saw:

I found (your son's) kitty and a striped hoodie. Call me or give me your parent's address and I can run it over. Good excuse to take out the Porsche.

Of course, it was an even better excuse for me to get a quick run in, so I replied for him not sweat it-- I'll be over.  It took only 22 minutes door to door to retrieve the goods with one last goodbye.  I decided to take a roundabout route to get back to my parents, including a few short detours to run the athletic fields of my alma mater and some trails in an upscale neighborhood.

When I got home, I put the bundle on the kitchen table, but my wife noted that there was no kitty (actually I think it's a puppy, but I'm no veterinarian) wrapped in the hoodie.  Probably after I picked up a stray golf ball (bad habit of mine, especially as I rarely golf), and while fiddling with my iPod Nano, it fell out.  Somewhere.

"You better find it, or someone will be upset" my wife warned me.  My son was still napping.  There was still time.

My mother wanted to come with me and see my friend's house we were raving about.  I tried to explain briefly that I couldn't look for the animal by car, and even if we drove that it might be up to 7 miles one-way before I found it.  But in the same way that it is futile to try to make her understand the ultrarunning addiction-thing, I doubt she understood why I had to go by foot. 

Out the door I went to try to retrace my steps.

You'd be amazed at (1) how much litter there is even in the nicest of midwestern suburbs, and (2) how many paper cups, napkins, and bags look like they might be a small stuffed animal from the distance.  Plus, not having planned on losing it, I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for.

what I was looking for, next to toddler's hoodie for scale

Luckily I found it in the high school field, 2.6 miles out; then took a different way back to my parents' for another 3.3.  So I extended my 10.5 mile run by 5.9 miles / 40-something minutes for a total 16.4 miles and 2 hours 11 minutes, not including five minutes between the two reconnaissance missions.  About right for six days before Firetrails 50 (though I might have blown it by running over 20 miles on Tuesday).

Anyways, it's an even better weekend when my wife tells me I have to go back out and run more!