When you smell doughnuts, turn around

It's hard to believe, but it's been two years since I trained for my first marathon. TWO. And I've barely done a thing since. In 2011, when I was getting ready for my 26.2 debut, I did most long training runs with a group. And our sunrise meeting spot was almost always Krispy Kreme.

It was a treat to get to run there because most of my shorter training runs happened either near my house or near work. But on the weekends, we would gather at Krispy Kreme and run routes that were not as familiar, and of course, at the beginning and end we were tempted by that glorious doughnut smell.

Well, now that I'm starting over with running and we live in a new place, the running paths that go by Krispy Kreme are practically in my backyard. After we moved this summer and I tried to start running again, I just stayed on our neighborhood streets. Half a mile, a full mile, that was far enough for me. But now I'm going a little farther...2 miles on week days and 3-mile "long" runs on the weekends.

The view on my run last weekend

I run a lap around our neighborhood and then I leave our streets and hop on the running/bike paths that wind through our city -- leading me toward Krispy Kreme. Every weekend, I go farther and farther down the path before I have to turn around and head home. This past weekend, I made it far enough that I could distinctly smell doughnuts before I had to turn back. Stopping and going the other way when one smells doughnuts is probably just a good policy in general, but for me, running on that path and smelling that smell made me think of my friends, of marathon training, and of that amazing sense of accomplishment when you run farther than you ever thought you could.

Marathon training is well out my my reach right now, but I'll be happy when I'm strong enough to run past Krispy Kreme and keep going down the trail a bit farther. For now, it's a good landmark for where I've been and where I know I can go.