Sum of my runs...

Leaves turning and falling
cover the trails.
Squirrels fattened
for the Winter.
Eyes in the dark
shine back from the beam.

Notice is taken,
but an audience is not given.

Recent and Upcoming...

This week has been really foggy in the morning when I am supposed to be running. The fog, and the dark, necessitated a head gear addition. Yep, it was time to break out the head-lamp. I would rather not have to wear it, but I got the lightest one I could find and it works wonders. There are now two specific times I wear it running. The first was last Winter in the dark and now it is mostly because I don't want to get hit while I am running in the fog.

Although I must say I have used it for more than just running in the morning. It worked great when we were redoing our little bathroom downstairs. I had the light fixture off the wall so that I could paint all the walls and eventually replace/upgrade the fixture. I also walked around the house in the dark when I first got it. Why? Because I could...

Okay, so this post was supposed to be about me running a half-marathon this weekend in Peoria, but I saw a head-lamp on my head and couldn't resist. This weekend will be my fifth half-marathon and I am far from learning exaclty how to pace to be the fastest I can be, but I have really started loving this particular distance. It is not like a full marathon that has always taken me quite a bit more than 4 hours to complete, rather it is doable, for me, in under 2 hours and because of that, a lot more fun. Maybe some day I will want to try the full distance again, but for now my time is better spent with that crazy kid B-Town.

The IVS half-marathon this weekend is put together by the Illinois Valley Striders and it is run through the Springdale Cemetary. I have done a little bit of mapping of the course and noticed it has a lot more hills than I am used to in B/N, but it is a two lap course which means I can run the first lap conservatively and push it once I know the course.

And, because I just love this picture, even though it has made the rounds in other places, I must post it here...

It's from last Saturday and he had just gotten out of bed. He was in a good mood like he always is in the morning and happened to pop this gem of a face as I was licking him back. Yes...I know this makes me no better than a 4 month old, but you gotta understand. He licks everything and I mean everything. He was playing in his exer-saucer tonight and started licking the turtle toy that is attached. Does it have a taste? No, it was cleaned before he used it. Ergo, I lick him back.

Hitting the Hills of Jersey...

Today was the day for my long run and since I have made plans to prepare for the IVS Half-Marathon I decided to throw in some hill work for fun. It was the first time I have done the route in quite some time, so, there were a few things I noticed/thought about.

• That guy still parks his Mitsubishi Montero at the bottom on the first hill.
• That house by the intersection still has the life size version the NASCAR driver in the upstairs window so I know where to turn on the way back.
• Saw some thoroughly flattened road kill that was unidentifiable (luckily no smell)
• Saw a condom on the side of the road.
• That house near the turn-around point still has the garage boarded up.
• Wow, I can tell I haven't done this in a while.
• Random thought: I don't need the whole thing, do you want to share a GU?*
• I have some friends with the last name of Cheek and I think it would be funny to get a picture with me between them. And then, tell people "I AM NOT AN A-HOLE BETWEEN TWO CHEEK'S."

Overall it was: good run, good hills, good hurt. Can't wait for more.

*Didn't really ask someone this. Just a thought...

Bona Dea Park Trail Run...

This morning I drove down the hill to a local park area called Bona Dea to check out its trails. In the many times I have been down here I had yet to make it down there. Oddly enough we drive past it every time we come to visit. This time would be different.

I decided to take the long route and just take it easy throughout as I knew it would be a short easy run. I ended up running 3.526 miles for the route. If you look at the map, the parking lot is on the far right and I ran along the top side essentially taking right turns at every intersection. The trail was well maintained and included a few bridges to cross over some marshy areas. I was half expecting to see some wildlife as I strolled through, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. It may have been because of the number of people on the trail. Most were walkers, but there were at least three other people running. The actual trail looked to be made of concrete with rocks pushed into the top, in parts, and it other parts looked to be some derivation of asphalt. In most places it was about 5 to 6 feet wide with plenty of room and throughout the course was as flat as a pancake. There were even dirt trails jutting off to lookout areas overlooking ponds where I am guessing you could see some sort of water fowl.

The run, over all, felt good. I did not push too

hard, as, I am looking to hit the same hill route that I took on Sunday. Now that I have a hand-strapped water bottle, things should go quite a bit more smoothly even though the high is supposed to be around 97. As you can tell in this picture, it is very humid and I started sweating as soon as I got out of the car. By the end of the run my shirt was soaked and my shorts barely had dry spots on them. This heat and humidity is insane, but I am loving every minute of it (on my runs). I can hardly wait for Friday when I get to attack that monster hill again. Grrrrr...