Patience; the new endurance sport.

I love these rainy autumn days--except my tent will never dry out from my trip.  I've had it hanging over the fence for a week now and it seems like it's rained every day. Now it's not red sand on the inside, it has red mud.  Still, I so enjoy the smell of the dying trees and wet road, and the feeling of the wind in my face in the early morning.  I miss hearing the wind whip through the trees down by the lake, but still it's nice to be outside.

Did the TM watching La Dolce Vita (1961), which was one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen.  It is an existential mess that started off listlessly trying to discover meaning in living, and literally ended with an orgy and the idea that sex is the only thing worth pursuing in life--at the expense of all other things.  I'm big on foreign films, but I did not love that one.  I especially hated the main character.  But other than the terrbile movie, I had a really nice morning and took a good amount of quality time for the sit-ups and push ups which normally, I have to through. 

Yesterday the snow on the ground just made me want to take an enormous hot bath instead of run--which I did.  So today, it was very chilly, but no snow on the ground.  I took the loop up toward Rock Canyon and back. I was throuroughly chilled once I stopped running, and took another hot bath.  I love October, it is by far my favorite month of the year....but did not expect snow.!

9:01/10:58/8:50/9:22/10:00

I had a nice speedy first mile without too much effort getting to North Temple Drive.  Without the trail to run on, running has lost all of it's therapeutic benefit for me.  Where I used to let my eyes restfully gaze upon the river, I am eyeing drivers to see if they are checking out my fat arms.  I hate running on the street.  I love the uphill mile though getting to the mouth of Rock Canyon.  It's so gorgeous once you're standing at the foot of the mountain looking upward.  I know it's slow, but it gets me breathing so hard it really feels like a work out and it doesn't hurt anything when you go that slow--just your lungs. The only bad part about the uphill mile is turning around and having to go back down the hill.  While I was up there though, I spotted the dirt road carved into the side of the mountain that I think might traverse the bench and lead me back to my house without having to go back on the road.  I'm going to run that tomorrow to see where it goes.  

I am so in love with October.  I don't mind the rain at all (although I'm really glad I'm not training for anything).  I took off in the late afternoon with my dogs up Rock Canyon, got in that nice 1 mile uphill climb, and then found the trail that traversed the mountainside heading North.  It was a little spooky to run it so late in the afternoon (also the day before Halloween).  I was up there all alone-- just the sound of my feet hitting the gravel and the quiet roar of rain.  It so exhilarating to be by myself looking over the valley dotted with autumn color, watching the rain sweep by. I live for runs like this--alone, on a mountain being cleansed by autumn rain breathing in October glory from high above the valley floor. I thought about the Halloween Half.  I had such a good time last year--but I'm just not in the mood for a party right now and totally unsure if I want to run more than 8 miles at a time until next January.