When I see that I burned 643 calories running this morning I visualize how many treats that bought me. 

Lazy May

The distance I ran in May was down 44.3% from April. Cycling was down 79.5%. Spending three weekends at home home cut down on long bike rides. I don’t have a running excuse. I slept in too many mornings.  

I headed to the street around 8 o’clock to see the Country Music Marathon runners. Our building had a great location at miles 12.25ish and 18.5ish due to the loop they made in MetroCenter. 

I was surprised how many people were along the street and running past already. The race leaders were heading back south shortly after I arrived. The north bound side of the street was a steady stream of people for most of my shooting time.

I enjoyed my time shooting and dreaming about running next year. 

[Flash 10 is required to watch video]

Runners

Cycling Experimentation

I rode into work this morning for SCIENCE! I normally bike on days I don’t run but I want to increase the frequency of both activities. Therefore I ran this morning with the intention of biking as well. Since my legs are JELL-Oy after running I kept my pace slow and coasted as much as possible. I also didn’t bring extra clothes with me. Usually I will ride in a t-shirt with a jacket and store another shirt in my bag.

I’m very happy with my pace. I didn’t struggle to beat traffic lights or keep up with traffic. My new route minimizes the traffic I ride with which helps. I remember my first few times in on Charlotte Ave; I was foolish to take that road. I sweated very little since it was chilly at 8AM. I think I wiped off my forehead once inside the office. 

I’m very happy with my ride since my legs never felt like they had ran earlier. I’m not certain how wearing in one pair of clothes will work once the temperatures increase. I’ll play it by ear. 

Day & Age & Running

I think I listened to The Killer’s latest album, Day & Age, and didn’t like it. This week I gave it another spin and have really enjoyed it. This morning I ran 4 miles to it which is a big deal because I rarely run to a single album. The mix of songs progressed from a slower beat to one that matched my gate this morning. I may have been running slower due to a 34ºF wind chill. I was surprised how good the run went since I had taken a few days off and didn’t want to go this morning. I’m amazed how runs I assume will be the worst turn out to be the best. 

I have been debating how I was going to enjoy the 50º+ temperature all week. After lunch and grocery shopping I decided I would get the most out of my time running. Running at 6:30 in the morning on an empty stomach isn’t as easy as the opposite so I try to run longer on the weekends. I’m getting much better at plotting routes exactly the length I want to run. That is about the only good thing I can say. I want to run faster and longer. Hopefully an increase in frequency will support those wishes. I have already ran over half of the distance I ran in February. At this pace I will surpass February’s distance by 40%. I think that says more about my running last month.

Tomorrow I’m hoping Beth will be up for a long walk with my camera. It has been too long.

Animal control has been called. They didn’t request as much information as I hoped they would be they did tell me they would sent a patrol out there. I believe I won’t see this dog again but I also believe that animal control won’t find it either.

Puppy Love

I ran again this morning after a few snow days off. There is still some snow on the ground in high traffic areas so I decided to run on the greenway. This was a good choice as I had to run over very little snow.

My problems came as I approached the first boat & barge along the river. I heard barking behind me in the distance and thought at worst a dog saw me behind a fence. As I passed beneath the overhead conveyor/tube for barge loading/unloading I heard louder barking. Behind me was a medium to large, unfriendly, black dog. I’m not certain of the animal’s breed but it was the size of a rottweiler. I was 30 feet away form the dog when I noticed it running towards me. I turned around and screened “Get away! Get away!” It was a poor attempt because I was running. It reminded me of nightmares I have had where I couldn’t scream.

The dog stopped, got low to the ground, and growled. I continued running while looking over my shoulder. I progressed for another 20 seconds when he started to run at me again. Luckily he only did this for a moment before retreating.

The men on the river just stared at me.

I thought about returning home a different way or calling Beth to pick me up. I decided to return the way I came. As I came back under I-65 I picked up a 2”x4” that was about a yard long from a pile of wood near a couple tents along the river. (I want to call them homeless people’s homes but that is obviously flawed.) I ran back with this huge beating stick in my hand till I met an old neighbor. I stopped and asked him if he had seen this dog before. He hadn’t but did have a problem with another, light colored dog previously. We ended up talking about our jobs which are both healthcare software companies.

I left my 2”x4” near the scene of the crime for future runnings. I’m also going to call animal control later.

I have started running again (5 runs in 8 days) after being a couch potato for a few months. I have started slow at around 2 miles but today I knocked out nearly 4.

This weekend I bought a Nike compression shirt and pair of pants to keep me warm under my normal running clothes. I successfully used them this morning and looking forward to more use as ramp up my routine.

Note: Fog at 30º can freeze on sidewalks.

It was warmer today and I was in a good mood after work so I went for a run. I haven’t been for a month and even then it was once a week. I need to suck up and get back out there.

I’m reading a book about running I plan on sharing more about later. It has me motivated to improve my running physically and mentally.

Brrrr

I am out for a 45 degree run. I set my low temperature limit at 50 in Carbondale but it is way too high. I think running in the morning with sunlight makes me feel warmer.

50 F is (it may change) my limit for running. Yesterday morning it was 43 so I stayed in and biked to work. This morning it is 51 F so I m heading out in a few. I have decided to run the 5k at the Germantown Octoberfest/Street Festival on October 10th.

Last night I decided to run South through downtown again. I took that time to find the post office that our  GPS keeps referring to and the restaurant that left a brouchure at our door. Running through downtown is really fun because there isn’t a lot of people or cars and its downhill!

I ran down to Broadway and bypassed the crowds of people on the sidewalks by crossing the street and running past the Sommet Center and in front of the Hall of Fame. At this point I was debating between coming back up 2nd or crossing the pedestrian bridge. I choose the bridge.

The view was great but the run up was a bitch! I managed to make it up but I walked the rest of the way towards the empty, yet lit stadium. I noticed a spotlight from the river once I was back on the ground. I paused to see what type of boat was coming. I’m not generally interested in boats but I have yet to see anything on the river. It was a handful of barges heading down the rivert.

Running up the other bridge to get back across the river wasn’t as bad as the first bridge but I still didn’t enjoy it. The Woodland St. bridge runs right into the lot of county buildings that must have recently been built. I zig and zagged through the little square and noticed a 3ish story structure. As I got closer I read a sign that marked it as an obersation tower. Very cool!