Went for a run today, starting off heading north on 1st ave. This is not an uncommon road for me; it starts with the most miniscule rise, then drops a bit to 145th, and then a lot to 155th, where I hit the one mile mark. 145th is a bit of a busy road, and depending on time of day and how long my run is going to be, I\u2019ll either stop and wait for the walk signal, or run up 145th a bit until there\u2019s a gap in traffic. Today I did the latter.<\/p>\n
Bluetooth bone-conducting headphones playing Emancipator (moody DJ type music), to encourage a slower run. Phone on my arm, using Runkeeper, so I can get those 5-minute updates. These are useful if I\u2019m trying to run \u201cslow\u201d because if I don\u2019t check in I tend to speed up.<\/p>\n
Relatively, of course. I realize running 9 minute miles instead of 9:30s is hardly \u201cspeeding\u201d up. But if I run too fast, my feet start to slide around in my shoes, and it takes longer for my legs to recover. I need to log some miles for the next 7 days, since Ragnar is in two weeks.<\/p>\n
At 155th I made the left turn, to Meridian, and the up to Ashworth. And I do mean \u201cup.\u201d That\u2019s a 7% grade over almost a quarter mile. On a very good day I can trot up it and lose only about 15 seconds per mile. Today was not a very good day. But it wasn\u2019t terrible– I\u2019ve had worse.<\/p>\n
At Ashworth I went right, to 160th. Lots of huffing and puffing. By this point my feet were hurting pretty bad, something that\u2019s been happening more lately. I want to blame my shoes–andI will– but it\u2019s also that I am spending WAY too much time sitting in my office these days. Also, I could stand to lose ten or twenty pounds. I\u2019ll rationalize it like this: fighting through the pain is good training for future runs where said fight will yield a more triumphant finish.<\/p>\n
Yeah. Sure. Anyway. To the Interurban trail, and south on that. Feet and legs feeling better as I finished mile two. Over those bridges, and then the one-third uphill part back to 145th. This is one of those uphill stretches that isn\u2019t so bad, if you don\u2019t let it get to you and don\u2019t attack it too hard. Summer is here, and with it, the various homeless people who hang out along the stretch. I think there\u2019s some kind of social service nearby. And a McDonald\u2019s. But they\u2019ve every right to sit outside and enjoy the sun, and I\u2019ve never known them to be anything but regular people.<\/p>\n
At 145th, a left to Aurora, wait for a gap in traffic, then cross. That\u2019s 3 miles done. Drop down to Roosevelt, and the \u201clast hill\u201d of the run. I don\u2019t know where my head was at this time– thinking about my shoes, maybe– but I didn\u2019t even notice it. Down to Meridian, and up again, but this up part really is one of those rises that never feels like one.<\/p>\n
And back at 1st ave, 4 miles done. A beer, a shower, some yogurt. Given the aches and pains in my legs and feet, I\u2019ll give this two stars out of five.<\/p>\n