Traveling Virtually--Using Imagination is Something I've Always Done

So, today I put in another 7 miles.  This time I could run on the streets with almost no worries related to ice.  That was good.  I waited until it was just light.  And I ran out to York Rd, south to just above where it intersects with Bellona, back up Bellona to Northern, across to Charles, up to Stevenson, back to York, down to Regester, over to Beverly, back to Arran, back to Sherwood, along the Alameda to Northern, back to Chinquapin, and then home.  Nice easy run.  The fastest mile of the first four included the trek up Stevenson.  Then I ran harder for the last three. After the easy 12 with company for nine yesterday, this was good.

In terms of my virtual pilgrimage, I am now on Leatherwood Rd about three miles west of "downtown" Salesville, OH.  I use downtown loosely as there is Main Street and maybe 16 square blocks total.  They do have a church, the Salesville Church of Faith.  

What is interesting is to ponder the virtual travel.  Yesterday, we even did a bit of "virtual travel" with our dinner pizza.  We put a combination of manchego cheese, mozzarella cheese, and feta cheese on the pizza.  Sort of a tour of the northern Mediterranean.  When I brought dinner to the table and said in my most "documentary narrator" voice "Tonight's pizza has us traveling along the Mediterranean from Spain to Italy and on to Greece," Sherry asked if I were narrating a PBS program.

It is fun.  

And it is an advantage of the world we have today.

I can get cheeses from three countries (or at least derived from cheese in three countries--I believe the only imported one was the manchego).  I can follow along on a map down to the mile to see where I am as I trace a path.  

The imagination--trying to picture where I am running.  Finding the names of streets (like Rainbow Run a few weeks ago and Leatherwood now) interesting.  It is like the imagination I've always had.  Even role playing games back in the day. 

The other day at a meeting, I ran into a couple colleagues I hadn't seen in a while.  They commented that I hadn't changed.  They were talking about appearances.  I see a little more gray.  And I see a few more wrinkles.  But, I am lucky to run.  Lucky not to gain weight.  Lucky to look youthful.  And I think that my use of technology to achieve virtual things ultimately is similar to what I have done for years as well.  It goes along with a comment at one of my leadership team meetings at the office last week.  We were trying to quickly figure out the 19th letter of the alphabet.  I knew to start from M as the 13th that didn't necessarily occur to my colleagues.  I commented on how this just carried over but once a friend had told me--if it is a part of you and what you do, just go with it.

So it goes.  As I go on, I continue to find imaginative ways of using and shaping the environment around me to produce an interesting life.

And I continue to hope that others enjoy sharing it.   

We All Need a Little Encouragement Sometimes

So, today I was running a little behind this morning.  Some work.  Some bills.  Some preparing for a work trip I ended up not making because of the weather.  And some looking online for school closures that never occurred.

Nevertheless, I ran 5 miles at the Y.  Each at an average pace of 7:30 for a quick workout on the treadmill.  

Up to 191.3 miles.  Still chugging west on PA Route 31.  It is a reminder that Pennsylvania is a long state east to west.

And, as I near the end of the first 10% of the year, I am in a great position to be on track.

Biggest lesson I realized since I last wrote--yesterday I commented on something religiously profound that Father Sam mentioned yesterday.  The link between the body of Christ held by Simeon and the body of Christ each Catholic holds in the Eucharist.

Today, I will comment on one of Father Sam's other comments.  He mentioned in several ways that people don't really know what they want or need.  Specifically, he commented that people don't know when to ask for help.  Himself included in some health struggles that he had recently.

I thought about my run on Saturday.  It was not bad--as one of my running friend pointed out.  I still ran 11 miles.  

And a lot of people run slower than I do on a slow day.

But I had two other running friends directly lift my spirits by reminding me that we all have days that we look on as hard days and one other running friend put up a similar post.  My one friend pointed out that sometimes we even have years we don't look back on fondly rather than just days.

I asked for help.  But only meekly.  I apologized for asking for help.

Both friends who gave me a lift directly said something to the effect of "that is what fellow runners are here for."  Vent.  Complain.  Let it out.  Get it out.  And then move on.  And don't feel the need to apologize for asking someone to listen.  "We've got you covered,"  

It is a reassuring feeling.

Of course, it doesn't just come from fellow runners.  It is a feeling in family as well.  

People you know you can count on when you need a friend.  

Love that old tune sung by James Taylor--you've got a friend.  

To close out, James Taylor leads to thoughts of greasy pizza before a concert at Penn State.  Thoughts of greasy pizza lead to thoughts of countless calories.  Thoughts of countless calories lead to thoughts of a celebration with frozen yogurt for Christopher's first two music school acceptances and a special hot chocolate when we got home for the parents to celebrate.  All those calories remind me I need an extra half mile to mile in the morning.  Thus I should get some rest.  Good night.  Tomorrow I will do some more miles on the treadmill and continue my virtual trek across Pennsylvania.  

What a Day!

Today was quite a day.  It started out with my goal to run 12 miles.  I was out the door by 5:35 because I had to get to a hockey game for my 9 year old by 10 in Chevy Chase, MD.  You can see me before the run.

The most interesting thing about today's run was that being by myself at that hour I could leave the house with one goal--get 12 miles and be safe.  That was not entirely simple as I did have to worry about it being "soggy and foggy" as suggested by one of my favorite meteorologists on a social media site.  I thought about my Slap Lit bands but decided to go without since I was wearing my orange windbreaker.  And I left the house with only one vague and guiding idea--it would be fun to do 12 strictly in the city for the first time in a while.

So, I left and headed up Highwood, down Lake to Chinquapin, and across Northern Parkway.  Running along Northern I was already feeling comfortable in the 36 degree weather with just the slightest misty drizzle and I finished the first mile in 8:32.  First decision point was at Loch Raven and Northern.  I made my loop around the shopping center there, and headed back down Loch Raven into the city completing mile two shortly after I crossed Northern--8:14.  So far so good.  Not too fast.  Just feeling good.  No more ice to worry about--except a big patch in one place along the entire route.  Biggest issues were big puddles (stepped in one that made my foot very wet) and the mud when I tried to run around puddles--where I could slip if I wasn't careful.  

The next decision point--of the many I had today--was at Loch Raven and Belvedere.  I've run west across Belvedere from there a bunch of times lately.  So, I decided to continue down Loch Raven instead.  There is a fun device to tell cars how fast they are going.  When I run by and there are no cars there, I can see how fast it detects me going.  It bounced back and forth between 8 and 9 as I approached.  Cool.  Brought me to about the end of mile three when I passed it with an 8:05.  Here, I decided to lose the windbreaker as it wasn't raining and I was overheating.

Continuing along, I arrived at Loch Raven and Cold Spring.  Made the decision to continue straight ahead and decided on a plan to go to Lake Montebello.  A friend had recently posted that there was absolutely no ice to worry about.  So, when I reached Loch Raven and The Alameda, I had to decide whether to continue straight to 33rd St or to take The Alameda.  I decided to do the latter as I was not sure if I had ever (in 3 1/2 years since I started marathon training) run on that section of the Alameda.  Always fun to run through new places.  I'd say "see" new places but there wasn't much to see in the cold and dark.  I did finish mile 4 before I reached the Alameda--8:16.  Running along The Alameda and 33rd and then to the lake, I completed mile 5 just after I reached the lake--8:09.

Several interesting observations about the lake. I saw someone who appeared to be leaving the lake as I arrived.  But I did not see a single other soul (runner or biker) going around the lake.  It was too dark and foggy to see much on the lake and it was so foggy I could not see the streetlamps on the far side of the lake "long ways" (the lake is shaped like an oval).  Finished mile 6 as I went around the lake--8:09.

As I was getting ready to finish around the lake I thought about next steps.  I have decided that aside from NCR (very easy) and Loch Raven Reservoir (very challenging), I really don't like out and back courses.  When running along I really really don't like out and back courses.  So, I decided to minimize repetition.  As a result, I made the decision not to run any further along 33rd street than necessary once I left the lake.  That took me up Hillen toward Morgan State.  Mile 7 completed before I hit Cold Spring--8:12.  Continued up Hillen to where it becomes Perring Parkway unless you make a hard turn and one past much of the west side of Morgan State's campus.  Hit mile 8 before leaving that straight away.  I'm pretty sure I haven't run there before.  Mile 8 was done in 8:13.

As I got to where I knew I needed to turn, I turned one street earlier than planned on Woodbourne.  That was okay.  When I got back to Hillen (the part after the distinct turn), I ran up to Belvedere and on toward the north side of Good Samartin--I'd seen the west side on the way down Loch Raven earlier.  I was still chugging along at an easy 8:30 for that climbing of hills section of the run.  Mile 9 ended before Good Sam.

Then, I continued across Belvedere as I would have if I had decided to turn right the first time I was at Loch Raven and Belvedere.  Mile 10 coming along Belvedere past Chinquapin Park but before Belvedere Square--8:01  Then, I turned north on York and got to my own neighborhood after recrossing Northern and Lake.   In fact, I turned on Hollen, Clearspring, and Gittings.  Mile 11 done in 8:21.  It was then that it began to rain in earnest again.  Windbreaker went back on for the last mile.  The last mile was a neighborhood loop.  Gittings to Weidner to Hollen again to Yorkshire to Cedarcroft around the triangle of Cedarcroft, Northwood, and Woodson and home again.  Last mile was the only one done in sub-8 at 7:56 for an 8:13 overall.

It felt good to be done after going on a new "big loop" path that I think I will use again.  The sense of freedom from just running in the cool rain was great.  It is great to have the mental map and know approximate distances to pull off something like that.  A little adventurous but nothing stupid or unsafe.  Here I am after the run.

In my virtual pilgrimage, I have now gone 66.5 miles.  I would be somewhere along Buchanan Trail East between about 8 miles west of where it turns off from Charmin Rd in Waynesboro PA.  Looks like it is past Patterson's Diesel on the west side of Waynesboro.  The street view on a mapping site shows what looks like a used car lot in the area.

Ate a quick bowl of raisin bran with soy milk, drank some OJ and water, took a quick hot shower, and drank a Coke.  Then, Sherry, me and Daniel drove to Chevy Chase for the game.  Missed our turn onto the country club grounds with an outdoor rink on the first try.  Made the correct turn the second time after having to circle around a 3 lane traffic circle.  It was a nice outdoor rink but it was raining like crazy.  When the rain let up the zamboni helped clear the ice, and they played started about a half hour late.  It was a good game, although my son's team was disappointed to lose.  It was interesting to see how the usual "hockey puck and skating physics" just don't work when there is so much ice on the rink.  You can see how much water was on the ice before the game.

We then drove to the Columbia Town Center and had an enjoyable Chinese lunch.  Both Daniel (from his game) and me (from my run with only a small breakfast after) were hungry.  After that we tried to find a store to exchange my backpack where the zipper has come apart.  Apparently we did not get the memo that the store had closed.  

Next we drove home.  We skipped going to a home brew store in the same area to look for cheese making supplies and spent much time discussing whether to drive to King of Prussia or Tysons Corner or send my backpack by mail to be replaced.  All the while the rain continued.

After stopping briefly at home, I had a fun trip to the grocery store with Daniel.  We played "pick a pint" and chose a pint of special ice cream for each family member.  When we got home I was finally overheating from all the layers I had on from earlier.  I'd already lost the two outermost layers other than my jacket--a windbreaker and a hoodie.  I still had on a long sleeved shirt, a short sleeved t-shirt, and long sleeved undershirt.  I got down to one layer and made dinner with Daniel.  Two meat lovers pizzas.  One thin crust and one think.  You can see them here.

Then did some dishes and listened to him read a chapter of his book.

What a day!  Tomorrow is another one with more decision points along the way. And more time with family and friends who help make my life as fulfilling as it is.

Thanks to all who do and to all who wished me a happy birthday and shared in the great day.