My goal this week is to run 3 easy in the morning and 3 easy in the afternoon except for Tuesday and Thursday when I think I'll do Plyometrics X. This morning before I turned to run along the canal I saw a guy riding a bicycle. He turned up the canal and was riding slowly. I was probably running a couple of hundred yards behind him when he turned around for no apparent reason. This got me wondering if maybe he was looking for the dead body of his latest victim. Right before we passed each other I got passed by a big brutish looking guy wearing a wife beater tank top. He was trucking along. I said good morning to him, but he had his head phones on, so all he could do was clap. I noticed that shortly after passing me he wasn't putting anymore distance between us. Then Br. Inglish came running by. I talked to him at church yesterday because I passed by him last week in the same place while he was walking. I think he felt bad that I caught him walking so today he made sure he was running. I would have like to have slapped him a high five, but the big brute forced him to the other end of the dirt road. When I got to the magic water fountain I saw the big brute stop and walk around to the other side of the canal. I realized he was using me as his goal to pass up. I felt quite cheap. By this time the guy on the bicycle had turned around again. It dawned on me that the murderous fiend was my vagrant friend. No words were exchanged as I finished my drink and stretched out a little more. Where did he get that bike from?
Tonight's run was uneventful. It got a little more eventful later on when Emily decided to wander out our door. About an hour later the cops brought her back.
Three miles this morning. Again, nothing fancy. I had to stop and stretch a couple of times because of a twinge in my hamstring. The magic water fountain wasn't too magical as I had to lift the cover by hand. Anyway, this entry is boring. Let me liven it up with a random video clip.
This is what I'll say when people try to pass me at Ragnar.
I was feeling pukey all day. I've been eating too much ice cream. When I started running this evening, I felt horrible (which is Spanish for horrible.) I just ran around the block and called it good.
I felt a lot better than last night. It was 83° out and actually felt pretty good. Lately I've been running with my new QuickGrip Camelback® just to practice running with it. I plan on carrying it with me on my Ragnar legs. But I didn't bring it today. So I stopped at the magic water fountain and there was a guy fishing in the canal. I think you're allowed to fish in that canal, but you aren't in the RWCD canal which is two canals over. At mile 4 I stopped at the corner gas station to blow my nose and get a drink. When I went in the stall it looked like the toilet had been used 5 times without flushing. Oh my gosh, it was so nasty! It was like a porta potty. So I left as soon as I entered. But when I got to mile 5, I started thinking about it again and started dry heaving.
I forgot that I was going camping this week, so my week's plan of running doubles didn't work out. We went up to Camp Geronimo late Thursday night. That meant we were pitching the tent in the dark. But with the full moon and our flash lights, it wasn't that bad. So we slept in until breakfast time Friday and were so busy all day that I didn't get to go out for a run on Friday. This morning I knew I had to get up early and go or I would hate myself. My phone (alarm) was dead. But I managed to get up at 6:30am. I saw a trail on one of the camp maps. It looked like a good option. I wanted to bring my phone (camera), but it was dead. That's too bad, because it was really pretty. I stopped a just before a mile in a little grove to soak in the beauty. Then I said a prayer of thanksgiving for such a beautiful world we live in. My thoughts have been on all the troubles I've been going through lately, but I couldn't help but think that there are those that have it so much worse than me.
I kept going with the thought that I would run at least two miles (if the trail went that far), and then see what I thought from there. Right about the two mile mark, the trail split. I followed the BSA Lookout Trail to see if I could make it to the Lookout. At this point it was a little too steep to run anymore. So I hiked for a while and finally saw a nice break in the trees with a gorgeous view. Alas, no camera. At 2.25 miles and 1200ft of climbing, I decided that was far enough.
The way back was a little faster, but a bit technical. There was a lot of rocks, fallen trees, pokey bushes, stream crossings, and steep declines. But it felt really good to get the run in, and I don't hate myself. I did manage to get one picture before my phone died.
