2 Aug Medium Run – 4.5

I ran today, on my birthday, with Edna, who’d just gotten back from Singapore. Nothing like a 4.5 mile run to get over jet-lag, I suppose. I went out today without any music on as I was showing Edna the Hawk Island route. We spoke at each other during the run, so I guess the pace was quite comfortable.

I realized that Edna runs with a lot more steps that I do. So she seems to shuffle as she runs where I plod. Another that I noticed was that the park was rather busy on Saturday morning. We passed a large group of runners who were all wearing “Playmakers” T-shirts. I guess it was either a group run or clinic, though a large number of the participants were walking. Another thing – Saturday morning had a lot more women than the other days of the week where the joggers are generally men. I wonder about this.

Anyway, running with Edna was fun. It was certainly distracting and at no point during the workout did I find my thoughts zoning in on the pain. My body hurts a little from serving too hard during tennis on Friday, but generally, I’m looking forward to the 9 mile run next week.

31 July Medium Run – 4.5 Miles

Having rested one day and only playing tennis yesterday, I was quite psyched for this run. I woke up at about 6.30, said goodbye to the doughster, and was out of the apartment quite quickly. I started out running listening to Billy Bragg and Wilco’s “Mermaid Avenue”, and found myself really enchanted by the song “California Stars”. The album, of course, is Bragg’s re-working of Woody Guthrie’s lyrics that Guthrie never got to put to music and for the first leg of the run I was thinking a lot about Guthrie and his impact on the entire notion of music as political action, and what he’d think about the mess we’re in today.

Anyway, once I started down Cavanagh Road, my thoughts turned to a rather more practical problem. I tried to work out how Edna’s flight could leave later today (Thurs 6pm) and only arrive on Saturday at 3pm. I kept rolling the dates and days of the week around in my head but couldn’t get around it. I will admit that it was quite silly of me not to realize immediately that she probably would be coming in tomorrow – Friday – instead of Saturday, but this occupied a lot of my thinking.

I will say that I managed to “think” of the route in about four parts and this mental map helped. So going around Dover’s Crossing is part one, running down Cavanagh Road to Hawk Island Park is two, running around the lake in Hawk Island is three, and running back up Cavanagh Road is four. It also helps because the stages aren’t exactly uniform in distance and they’re not like I’m just running circles.

The park run was pleasant. I passed quite a few joggers / runners. There was the speedy Japanese guy who was exiting as I entered, the black guy with the Army T-shirt, the plodder (like me) in a bright green T-shirt, and a a girl who was the friendliest of the lot. As for the walkers, I met the same Indian couple who were the only people there when I ran on Saturday, and the couple that I’d met during the 8 mile run. I guess it’s nice to see familiar faces and say hi when you’re running.

Running back was quite easy as well, through I did slow down once I exited the park. As I turned back into Dunckel and got ready to go into Beau Jardin I saw the girl who always runs with MSU Soccer t-shirts. Maybe she’s part of the team. She was striding quite fast and I managed to use her pace to register a strong finish.

26 July Medium Run – 4.5 miles

So, here are some thoughts about yesterday’s run.  It was a “medium” distance run, so I didn’t really feel too anxious about it.  However, I when woke up about 6.30, ready to run, I felt pretty low on energy and bloated.  This must have been the result of eating too much the day before (Friday).  Half a mufalletta for lunch and chicken wings for dinner is too much food.

I ran the “Hawk Island” route, which is a very nice route.  It was my second time running it so I was still quite excited about it.  When I started out the door, I immediately felt the ache in my legs.  Throughout the first mile or so, I was thinking a lot about what it meant to have been a teacher in Singapore.  I re-visited several scenes and thought about how I might have done a better job.  But by the time I hit the main road that leads to the park, I was more focused on looking out for traffic and crossing safely.  I can’t recall what I was thinking about as I ran to the park, except that there were no cars on a Saturday morning.  I think only one car passed me as I jogged.

I listened, throughout this run, to Oliver Nelson’s “Blues and the Abstract Truth”.  As I ran in the park, I kept looking at the track titles, and this was a nice distraction.  There wasn’t much going on in the park – no people fishing or swimming in the lake.  I guess it was too early.  I was really peaceful though.  I passed a single couple who was walking around the running / cycling route.

My next run – is supposed to be an 8 mile “long” run.  I’m not sure if I’ll grind out eight “one miles” around the neighborhood, or try to incorporate the 4.5 “Hawk Island” route into the run.  One thing’s for sure – I’m not going to eat too much today!