run, run, run

Boise, ID 7:30 am

Pace: 8:32

Decided to do a ten miler before leaving town. Who knows how much I'll get to run this week in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:30 pm

Pace: 8:20

I needed to buy a charger for my cellphone, so I ran to the AT&T store and bought the overpriced piece of wire. Then I went down Penn St. through downtown, past the paper and over the bridge, down to the next bridge and back to the North Shore, along the river past the casino and Steeler's stadium and back to the hotel.

My Garmin messed up during the first mile or so. Shorted me at least a quarter mile. Ended up reading 5.75, so I'm calling it six.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:00 pm

Pace: 9:19

I ran across the West End Bridge and through the West End neighborhood. It was kind of difficult getting there. The construction that got in my way a year ago was still there, but this time I just ran through it. I ran around the back of that big hill that is across the river from downtown and then took a road that goes straight up. Good Robie training if I end up doing that. Then I ran down the other side and across the Liberty Bridge, then downtown and back to the hotel. It wasn't just a run, it was an adventure.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:30 pm

Pace: 8:47

I was feeling stressed about work I need to get done for next week, so I was thinking about not running tonight. But, since it's supposed to start pouring down rain by morning I decided to go for 3 or 4 miles. I ended up going down a riverside trail to the end of it, about 3.5 miles away. I then turned onto a street and was going to loop around on some city streets, but I was next to the prison and the road went under a dark, scary viaduct -- and prisons aren't known for being in the nicest neighborhoods. So I turned around and went back the way I came.

 Rabbits kept running across the trail in front of me. I suppose that if there are a lot of rabbits, there probably aren't any big, dangerous animals around. But, on the other hand, the rabbits still frightened me.

Boise, ID 9:00 am

 Pace: 8:56

Surprised to see snow on the ground this morning. Nothing on the roads, but the lawns and roofs were white. I knew this was going to be a rough one, but had to get it done because I have so few windows of oportunity between now and mid-May to get long runs in. I flew in around midnight last night, but with the time change I was awake by 7:30. I took my time getting ready and left around nine. I ran down Cloverdale to Executive/Emerald to Curtis and then got on the Greenbelt, staying on the south side of the river. Got off at Glenwood, up the hill to Goddard, Maple Grove, Edna and back home on Cloverdale. I kept the pace around 9 mpm which is about all I had in me anyway.

 Only a few noteworthy events. While I was running past REI I saw some poor dude pull out of the parking lot while his brand new kayak fell off the top of his truck on to the road. I stopped to pee along the greenbelt and accidently peed on one of the fingers of my glove, then realized that it is the finger I usually wipe my nose with while I'm running. I had to be careful there (TMI?). And finally, I saw a fox running across a bridge over the Boise river, and I'm not talking about the ladies either. It looked like a small dog with a huge tail. That was kind of cool.