I'm sitting in the dining area of my house. It is a nice place, just off of the kitchen, with south facing sliding doors that lead out to the back yard, and beyond that, Free State High School. In the sky above the school, clouds sail past. Today is a time for vigilance. It is one of two times in history that the National Weather Service has issued a dire warning about violent storms and tornadoes over a day in advance of the event(s). Honestly, I'm not sure I like having that much warning. It gives the inhabitants of the designated areas too much time to ruminate over the day's potential outcomes. Give me a couple of hours notice instead. I can move make my plan and call friends and family to ensure that they are aware as well.
So, to get the weather out of my synaptic passages, Chris Ford and I popped over to the River Trails and knocked down the 8.5 mile loop. I had planned to head right back out and do it again, but ended up chatting until I had cooled off too much to want to tackle the trail again. Chris is getting ready to kick out a really fast KS 1/2 marathon run next week. He wanted a decent run at a mellow speed to start his week of taper. So we did a pretty easy 9 min/mi pace. No snakes on this jaunt, but we did get buzzed by a huge owl, saw a blue heron take off, and ran around a bunch of frogs on the trail. All in all a lovely morning run. I finished the week at 35 miles.
I grabbed a pair of Merrell Barefoot kicks at Gary Gribbles after the run. As everyone knows, I am not a minimalist guy when it comes to running shoes. But the Merrells are really comfortable and look great. So I went with style over substance, eschewing a more comfortable pair of Nike Frees in favor of the Barefoots.
Now a brief interruption: Last week I put up the longest post I've ever written. Thanks to all who read through it and emailed me. I realize the post was nutty long, but it needed to be. I will try to keep them to a more manageable length in the future.
Speaking of that... So as part of the Cal running experience, I did knock out a 4-5 mi run through Palm Springs' main drag during my stay. Since it is a desert oasis and gay mecca, I thought I'd see a lot of people out in the early a.m. Oddly, that didn't happen. I pretty much cruised down the town's main drag alone. At the same hour in Vegas, you'd be trampled by runners (a very counter-intuitive thing that I discovered a few years ago). There were even more in places like P-town. Very odd...
Anyway, the PS run was fast, because most of that burg is flat. It really was great to see everything looking crisp and clean. Breathing was no issue, because the desert is dry and the town isn't high above sea level. Back in LA the next day, I had an odd asthma attach on the Griffith Park run. I got over it. But it did give me pause.
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A couple of documentaries everyone should see:
Bully - the new doc out in limited cities at the moment, but expanding. It is very moving.
The Cove - I finally got up the courage to watch the outrage perpetrated on dolphins by the Japanese. It makes me glad that my credit card gives bank to the Sea Shepherds every time I use it.
Until next week (or I feel like posting again) - run for pondering, pleasure, or purpose.
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