For the sake of mixing things up, and because of construction on the trail, I chose to run around the neighborhoods and down a road I never go on for 2.5 miles. I can't get on my trail for .4 miles because of the stupidly expensive and pointless bridge the city has decided to build, to connect a road no one uses, to have better access to the municiple airport that no one goes to. I'm so glad they have raised my property taxes 4 years in a row. Worth every penny!..... I swear I would not run ever if all I had were city streets & sidewalks every day. This morning, I found myself resentfully sharing the road with ...gasp... Cars! I rely on running to be my quiet or alone time near the river & trees and emply trail. But I'm especially cranky the past few days. This morning was more bitterly cold than it's been in a few weeks (and windy). Also, I have to remind myself how cranky all this running makes me. When I'm tired I get really negative during the hardest 3 weeks of training. That plus my job is driving me to tears almost daily, my son's teacher is enough to make me consider yanking him out of school, and whenever it snows I can't get up the mountain (3 days in a row last week). It adds to my overall sense of being locked inside-my-life-prison dutifully going through the motions of a responsible adult. So if you see me running down your sidewalk, just move little to the side. You don't want any of this. | 