Monday, August 16, 2004

Running



Yes, I've actually been running and taking spinning classes, I've just been a little remiss about blogging about it all. I didn't really realize that people were actually reading my workout log, so I didn't think this stuff would be missed. Well, the weather has been pretty crummy around here for weeks and so most of my runs have been conducted on a treadmill, which is really not all that interesting to write about. It's not even all that interesting to actually go and do, to be honest. Anyway, the weather had cleared briefly this evening. Had been pouring rain this morning and most of the day, but had stopped by the time I got home tonight, so I grabbed the pug and made for the park. Lola really hasn't had much exercise and I wasn't feeling all that ambitious for the hills tonight, since I've been running mostly on flat surfaces for about two weeks now, so I figured we'd take it easy. It was a lot cooler too tonight, although still very humid.

Anyway, we did the usual. Ran in on the Park Drive and and then around on the outer Bridle Path Loop. It went pretty well, I didn't push it too hard, so we both really enjoyed the run. My right shin that has been plaguing me seemed to hold up really well, so I was happy about that. During the course of the run, we ran into a few different people with dogs, so Lola had some social time, since I was in no kind of a hurry. When we finished the loop I saw a guy with a measuring wheel coming out of the loop from the other side, so I asked him how long it is. He told me that the loop is basically 2 miles, but that with all the undulations (the path does a good amount of meandering) that it should actually count for about 3. I then asked him about the Park Drive up to the entrance to the Bridle Path and he said that this is about a 3rd of a mile, which is actually about what I figured. So running the loop plus the Park Drive to and from takes me almost to 3 miles. I supposed I could tack on a little extra mileage by running a little bit of an out and back farther along the Park Drive before and/or after the loop entrance, but I'm not actually going to worry about it now. Anyway, this guy apparently coaches a local girls' highschool track team and seemed to know what he was talking about. Friendly guy, I've seen him there before with his girls. Anyway, good to have a definitive idea of the distance I've been doing.

So, the run went generally well. Would have been better without Lola, of course, but then again, I enjoyed her company and she got some much needed exercise and social time too. Oh, and once I got home, I was milling around the kitchen putting dinner together, when I swear I heard rain. Looked outside and, sure enough, it was pouring rain again. Glad I was able to squeeze a short run in during the small window in between storms.

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