Running With Snakes: January 2014

Friday, January 17, 2014

2014 Run #12 - January 17

Finally ran again. I skipped out of work at 2:30pm (I had been there since 6:30am and did not take lunch) and rushed home to sneak in a run. Duty called before the run and I had to clear the backyard of dog bombs so the boys and their friends would play outside instead of driving us crazy in the house. It was a great run mentally but not physically. Friday Funday is a lot of fun with other body parts worked instead of just the lungs and legs.

Great trails!

Trail was good over-all but there was still ice in places.

Running into the sun is brutal!

Push-up Break!

Beginning

The Lift-off

Over the top - this bridge may be too short

The landing

2014 Run #11 - January 11

Goofing off in Louisville - just ran and picked up a few Mission: Every Street roads. I had a great run and enjoyed it ALL. I need more runs like this one and they will be coming soon. 10-12 more lbs off my gut and I will be flying again.

Pre-run Selfie

Yet another car breaks the law (MBTA)

That barn again with near perfect light.

A local resident's plea to have the road fixed (it has been 5 months after all.

Barrier to keep people from falling into creek.

Run Statistics

2014 Run #10 - January 10

Short easy run from work - just 3 miles squeezed in between two conference calls.

Neat photo of a run by the camera on my run today

Confluence Park with REI

Thursday, January 16, 2014

I Did It Again

Yes - I did it again. Well, what did I do?

Lost Springs, Wyoming - Population 1

I got lost on this journey to find myself. I realized this morning that I have not been true to myself. I have been following a path that was not my own. It was a path with lots of distractions, compromises, and concessions. I cannot believe I was doing this to myself again. This blog had become censored so much that I have completely lost my creativity and desire to write.

Time to get off this path others have created and bushwhack to where I need to go. When in the field, I pride myself on my sense of direction and my ability to go places where others do not and cannot go. I rarely follow a trail and when I do, I am always looking from side to side for something interesting that can pull me away. One of my favorite things to do when in the field is to take someone who is not a field person (or has a lousy sense of direction) and lead them far off the path. I then make some innocent comment about disappearing and wondering if my companion can find their way back. This creates a look of panic and my companion typically follows more closely. I would never leave anyone in the woods but I do sneak away just to see what their reaction is. This is where I need to go now in my life and with this blog - I need to leave the trail, get away from those with me so I can find myself, and then come back to those still on their own paths when I am ready.

Time to find myself (SNAKE!) on a path all of my own.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Back of the Seat

Have you ever thought much about the back of the seat? I haven't but today my ADD mind wandered to the back of the seat in front of me.

I watched shadows play across it.

I noticed the material was stiff and rough.

I saw that it wasn't quite fit properly.

I noticed its rigid shape.

I saw some loose fragments.

The dark gray color was from a mixture black and lighter gray threads.

Now to life - if we can notice things about the back of a chair, we can surely notice the other things that matter in our lives.

Notice the sunrise.

Notice the coffee made by a coworker.

Notice the good morning from the stranger holding the elevator for you.

Notice your lunch

Notice everything and then STOP! Stop and say thank you. Thank you for your ability to see, have, give, and love. Be grateful for all you have and what others give you.

It is amazing what you can learn from the back of a chair.

Bach

First Light - January 15, 2014

Every Wednesday I get to sleep in. Wednesdays are my days to help kids and their parents cross the street safely at my son's elementary school. For about the last month, even though I get to sleep in, I have still gotten out of bed in the dark on Wednesdays.

Today was different - I was lucky enough to experience the day's first light. I felt renewed and happy despite the stresses in my life right now. I even smiled.

Here is a iPad photo of this morning's first light:

Friday, January 10, 2014

2014 Run #9 - January 9

Lunch run at work. Made a loop around Mile High Stadium. Lots of ice still on the trails and interesting things to see on this run.

Shopping Cart in Cherry Creek

A quick stop for a photo

Hooded Merganser

Selfie while running

2014 Run #8 - January 8

My first run of Every Street - 5.5 miles in my neighborhood. I cannot believe how quickly the miles add up running up and down all the streets. Now I need to plan my next Every Street run for next week soon.

Pre-run Selfie

Really - park on the sidewalk - what an ass!

Interesting snow structure on an evergreen bush

Post run sweaty selfie

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Mission: Every Street

I am on a mission - an unusual mission but a mission none the less (I used mission 3 times in one sentence - ugh). My mission is to run every street, path, and trail in the City of Louisville, Colorado in 2014. I don't think I am going to have much trouble getting this done but there is one caveat that may break me. The caveat is that every run has to start at my house. This means that I don't get the luxury of driving to the other side of town to run a small section of road that I missed previously. I am going to have to carefully plan each run to the maximum efficiency.

In the photo below, the gray shaded area is the City of Louisville and the area I have to cover. If you plot my runs on January 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 (I ran at work on the 2nd and 3rd), I really wasn't very strategic. I have lines all over the place (red lines in the photo below). This will have to change if I am going to be successful. Each run will have to have a goal. It is not practical to run 20+ miles without getting a lot of new road, paths, and trails covered.

Tonight's run is just over five miles long and covers a portion of my neighborhood. It covers a lot but soon I will be running 5 miles just to get to a piece of road I need to run.

This is going to be fun! How fast can I do this? I will try to remember to post weekly updates showing my progress with a new coverage map.

2014 Run #7 - January 7

Night run. Running at night is a different experience. The darkness makes you focus inward and see more of yourself, your breathing, your cadence, and your flow. I enjoyed this run.