Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I spent a large chunk of the weekend reading some of my old blog entries.  This blog used to be so fun.  I had a blog long before I had a Facebook account, so in between the blog and Athlinks.com, they were my social media.  And I used to reach out and try to meet new people.  And I used to love to encourage people.  And I used to love to make new friends.  But along came social justice warriors.  And along came Facebook.  And along came quitters.  And along came me getting out of shape.  The blogs certainly not as fun anymore, but it still holds so many funny memories.

So it was actually cold today.  Not bundle up cold, but I could feel it.  I got to the Floodway and saw 7 people within the first quarter mile.  That's a lot.  But I didn't see anymore people in the next quarter mile.  I turned south down the RWCD road and saw one of the couples that I had passed.  Then I saw another couple and wondered where they came from.  Then I recognized it was Sterling Massey, the guy from my ward that I just started following on Strava.  He was running with his wife and his dog.  Two Saturdays ago Maggie texted me to help her move a piano to her house.  Bishop Coombs, Sterling, and Greg Spencer also showed up.  Sterling and I talked about how we run the same routes much of the time.  Knowing that lately he's been running just shy of Brown Road before he turns around, I wondered if he would be turning around soon.  They did.  And they passed me, although they were on the other side of the Floodway.  I think he realized it was me, but he didn't wave at me until he could tell I was looking.  They got to Adobe and started walking.  I had to wait for about 10 cars.  I've never had to wait for that many cars!  But I think it was because school was starting.  When I finally crossed I was able to catch up to them.  Then they started running again and passed me.  They weren't going that much faster than me, and I actually was running about a minute per mile faster than I was last week.  So we finally crossed paths when we were switching sides at University.  I stepped off the sidewalk and into the road so they could pass by.  I already had a conversation worked out in my mind.  "Hey guys!  It's finally cold, huh?"  But all I got out was, "Hey guys!"  Sterling said, "We finally crossed paths."  I said, "Yeah."  And that was it.  Other than his wife's giggle.
 

I got up early this morning.  Even earlier than David, our rooster.  I started running at 5:45am, and it was still dark.  And cold.  It stayed dark the entire time.  I like running in the dark, but I always slow down.  My pace was about 16 seconds per mile slower than yesterday, so not terrible.  I passed by one couple.  I couldn't tell if they were people I see all the time.  Just too dark.  When I got to Adobe again I saw some red lights flash on the signs hanging on the fence.  There's a clean up after your dog sign and a no fishing, boating, motorized vehicle sign.  Where did the red light come from?  I looked down the street and didn't see any cars.  Then I realized there was a dark figure running toward me.  He was wearing an LED light on his back, and I just didn't see him right away.  We said good morning to each other. 

It was cold, but it'll be a while before I'm not wearing shorts and T-shirts.  So even though I could feel the cold, I could also feel that today's run wasn't such a chore.  I guess I'm getting into shape a little bit.

Another dark and cold morning.  I left at 6:02 am, so I knew it would start getting light out on my run some time.  It was dark up until I got to University.  I hadn't seen anyone.  I finally saw a lady walking two beagles.  She said good morning to me before I said it to her.  Shortly after that I saw another guy walking his dog on the other side of the Canal.  I waved right as he turned his head to look at his dog.  I didn't think he saw me, but he waved back with his head still turned away from me like a cool cucumber.  I got to Main Street.  On the northwest corner of the intersection of Main and Higley is a tree that I call the bird tree.  There's always hundreds of birds in it.  You can't even see them, but you can hear them.  I heard a few and I waved my arms at it as I ran under it.  I woke the rest of them up.  The sun hadn't quite broken the horizon yet, but I could see pretty good now.  My last two miles were faster than my first two even though it didn't feel like it.
 

My legs were sore today.  Hmm..just one extra mile than normal and I feel it the next day.  It was 6:18am when I started running.  I wore a sleevless shirt which rubbed both my armpit and my ribcage raw.  Yesterday there were no clouds.  So when the sun came up, the sky started turning yellow.  It's the clouds that make it turn pink.  Today we got some pink.

This morning Vickie and I got up early.  Vickie is going to Zion to hike with her friends.  I planned on going running right when she left.  But not a minute had passed by and Emily was awake and in my room.  There will be no running this morning.  I went outside to feed the chickens and collect eggs with Emily and Herbie.  Herbie got excited and started running full speed.  He wasn't necessarily chasing the chickens, but he was scaring them.  Then he ran right into my knee.  I'm glad it was my knee instead of Emily.  But it hurt.  I kept my running clothes on all day and when Dartell came over to watch her, I went out.  It was 5:18pm.  I got to Adobe and could feel my knee starting to hurt.  I continued on to the pavilion and stopped to stretch out more and massage it.  I tried to run again, a little slower.  But I got to the Floodway fence and knew it wasn't going to happen.  I turned around and walked home.  The walk of shame.  When I got to the stop sign one of the sister missionaries rolled down the window and said, "Hi Brother McCumber!"  So that was embarrassing.