Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Cycle, Cycle Too

I kind of fell off the wagon this weekend, and didn’t make either my long run (5 whole miles!) or my Sunday run. In my defense, though, my youngest son is spewing snot and has a cough that sounds like he’s been a pack-a-day smoker for the better part of 50 years. I’m kind of worried about catching anything this close to the holidays, so I figured rest wasn’t a bad idea.

But, today I jumped back on the wagon. Three miles at lunch. OK, 5K, but that’s just ’cause Nike+iPod has a 5K choice, otherwise, I’d have to manually dial in 3 miles. The extra distance is kinda like having to do “one for the Corps” at the end every time I do pushups.

Today was so beautiful I got worried that I’d get kicked out ’cause I hadn’t bought a ticket. OK, a terrible metaphor. But the day was amazing. Shorts and a long-sleeve t-shirt two days before the solstice. How sweet is that? Narragansett Bay was placid, the birds flew, the bees buzzed (OK, they’re hibernating), and the sun beat down on my ears.

I faded hard about 3/4 of the way through the run, and walked for a while, but still managed to put in a good effort.

Technorati Tags: newport, running

1. Sunsets. Yeah, I’ll admit it – there’s something about watching the sun slip behind the planet that works wonders for my mind. First, there’s the longer shadows, then the indeterminable period of golden light, the dip behind the trees, the brilliant gold fade to orange fade to crimson through pink, and the final fade through purple to blue to grey to night. Wow.

2. Running on trails. The trees, the quiet, the soft crush of leaves underfoot, and the slight slipping and sliding – puts a smile on my face every time. Dirt on my shoes? Even more of a plus. Man, I cannot get enough of this stuff.

3. Food. Food is good. Good food is great. And running only lets me enjoy more of it.

All right – enough of the digression.

So, the trip to Natick this week was excellent. THe class ended up being better than I could have hoped, and I think it’ll help me at the office. The running in Natick ended up being wonderful, too. The capstone was Thursday afternoon – got out of class before sunset, and went and parked on MA 135, which I believe is the Boston Marathon route. Ran through Natick Center, and veered up Marion Street. Marion Street climbs straight up a hill until it runs into the 100 Acre-Plus Town Wood, which is lined with beautiful, wide trails. Phenomenal.

Left the wood just after the sun dipped below the treeline, and made my way back into town, flashing the nod and half-wave to the other runners enjoying the fabulous afternoon.

By the way – running on Rt 135 was amazing, just thinking of the history and effort that’s gone into the 111 marathons that have passed that way. I had supper last night with a couple of fraternity brothers, and a friend of one of them who’s run Boston like 8 times. The first couple, he jumped in as a Maverick (or whatever), but he’s qualified for like the last 6. Then, thinking about Jeff and the other RBF types who have made the wicket – well, let’s just stay thinking. I need to hold the (waist)line through the holidays, then drop 20 lbs, make it through another marathon season, and then maybe, MAYBE, it’ll be worth a think.

The class was at the Army’s Soilder Systems Laboratory. We got to see a couple of pretty cool demos, including chewing on one of the new, high-tech “Shelf Stable” sandwiches, and a “Hoo-Rah” bar, the DoD’s version of the PowerBar, which is worth every penny they spent researching it – delicious.

Tonite? Took the boys to movie night at the elementary school. Missy’s off at her office Christmas party, and I’m playing with the refurbished Airport Express I just picked up. Actually, there’s not much “Playing with” that needed to be done – I plugged it in, plugged in the speaker cable and ethernet cable from my existing home network, and it works like a champ. Pretty freakin’ cool to be able to send iTunes to real speakers.

Now to build the built-in’s in the basement…

Enjoy the weekend, y’all

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But a huge moral victory in more ways than I can count.

I blew it this morning – completely didn’t set the alarm in the hotel room correctly, and woke up just in time to make it to class. Then, class runs late, and it’s dark when we get out. Plus, I blew it in arranging the hotel, and got one between Route 9 and the Mass Pike – so running on actual streets isn’t an option.

But, being re-dedicated to the whole life concept of fitness as a life skill, I broke down and headed to the hotel dreadmill for the three miles that were on the schedule.

About a mile into the run, the two instructors for the class walked into the fitness center. We nodded at each other, and they started working out. Of course, I had to take the opportunity to crank up the incline and the speed on the mill, and the run went by. Finished with Lance Armstrong congratulating me on improving my mile time thanks to Nike+iPod.

I walked out of the center without speaking to the instructors, which likely was a mistake. I’m realizing that I’m way too hardwired as an engineer, and need to spend some mental capital on figuring out how to read people and build relationships. Anyway, water under the bridge there. I’ll bring some coffee and donuts to class tomorrow morning.

The workout was completely eradicated this evening by supper at Legal Seafood. Wow. I suppose they’re getting big enough to where I should be cynical of them, but somehow I cannot. Shellfish and a delightful glass of Spanish rioja. Only thing missing was the sparkling eyes and warm body of my lovely wife…

technorati tags:running, rbf, boston

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