I only just recently found out I was blind.

I have always been aware that my eyesight was bad. I’ve known my peripheral was very poor. I just did not realize how bad until I got my initial retinitis pigmentosa diagnosis until October, 2022. It was not until June of 2023 that I found out that I am in fact, legally blind.

But, I still had to do that running thing. Sure, I was recovering from a knee scope in mid-May, but I had to get back out there sometime.

Fortunately, I live in one of those areas which understands the importance of a recreational trail. Even better yet, a paved recreational trail. I am a pretty good disaster off-road.

It is less than a half mile from our house to Troy’s branch of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail. This trail stretches from Piqua, Ohio, continuously to Cincinnati. As far as I know, it is all bike trail to that point. Some day, I would like to run from that Piqua point to Cincinnati to find that out first hand, but that is another story. Back to the main point.

I have been running on these paths for more than a decade. I have covered various parts of that trail for about 10,000 miles in those years. I know these trails well. I know the twists and turns, I know the dips and hills, I know the parts where the asphalt is crumbling, I know where it ices a lot in the winter, I know which areas are apt to flood and the ways around them, I know where black walnuts (aka slipping death) fall in the fall, I know where the Canadian geese hang around.

If I travel towards Piqua, I have eight roads to cross. Only one is considered a busy road. If I travel towards Tipp City, I have one road to cross, and that is near home. Again, I know both of these trail arms quite well. Many times, the weather conditions dictate which way I will go. Other times, it will be dictated by how recently I have run that route.

I also have Duke Park nearby. Duke Park is another paved area, a roughly two mile figure of eight loop. Again, I cross one road to arrive at Duke. I have run in Duke hundreds of times, I know Duke Park. Last year, the city added Robinson Reserve to the northern section of Duke. That is a gravel trail, very easy to run on. I have run on it a couple of dozen times, so I know Robinson Reserve.

What this leads to is familiarity. I know these areas. I am comfortable in these areas. I know the distances, I know the detours, I can almost run them with my eyes closed. Heck, I have run them in the early morning with my headlamp. Since RP includes night blindness, I have practically run some of those areas with my eyes closed! One time, the headlamp gave out in the middle of Duke Park, so…you get the picture.

But, I know these areas. It is very difficult to get lost on those areas with the way they are set up, and my familiarity with the areas makes it even less likely I will get lost.

So, as my eyesight wanes, I will stick with the familiar. Yes, I will occasionally go a different route. I have been working for a few years to run all of the streets of Miami County towns. As my knee gets better, I might just start looking at grabbing a couple of “new” streets in Tipp City, some unincorporated streets near Troy, a new street in Piqua, and everything in nearby Fletcher, Lockington and Pleasant Hill. But, again, that is another story.

In the mean time, I will stick with the familiar, running the paths I know, trying not to run into other runners, walkers and cyclists. If I bump into you, I do apologize.