Running Tales

Last week I celebrated the springing of Spring by running outside THREE TIMES! I was so, so, so, so, so happy!

But each run was uncharacteristically eventful. Usually I can tie on my shoes, head out, not really see anyone or have anything strange happen. Although I have had some teenage superheros holler insulting names at me before; that was not fun.

Anyway, my first run was great. I had a little plan to do some interval work so that I can get eased back into my normal running distances. I was about a mile into my run when I met up with a guy that I used to work with. He was running on his late afternoon lunch break. Much catching up ensued & we ended up chatting for about 20 minutes. I'm pretty sure he was late getting back to work - oops!

My second run was not so great. Thursday was very overcast & I made sure to check the radar before I left work. The only green splotches I saw on the screen were south & east of us. Nothing overhead so I thought the coast was all clear. I got home, read the mail, changed my clothes, strapped on my ipod & headed out. I didn't drive to the park or the track; I had decided just to leave straight from home. I got about a mile from home & it started to sprinkle. Not good. Surely it will pass over, I thought. I ran about another block & it started to pour. Definitely not good. I turned around & headed home worrying about my ipod getting wet. Within a couple of blocks I was soaked & I heard a huge crack of thunder. Cue real panic. No one wants to get hit by lightning, least of all me! Remember, I'm not in great shape at this point. I was trying to sprint home. My right shoe came untied. I stopped & tied it. A block later my left shoe came untied. I stopped & tied it. Run, run, run! About two blocks from home my lungs were burning so I slowed down a bit. I realized that my backside was dry b/c the rain was hitting me in the face. Good! I'll hook my ipod on the back of my waistband so it won't get any wetter, I thought. That worked just great until I tried to run again. Commence the falling of the shorts. I ran for a little bit holding my shorts on & then decided that I was being just too silly. So I unhooked the ipod & continued trying to shield it from the rain.
I finally reach our front porch & suddenly the rain STOPS. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???
I stepped inside the front door & Mike was sitting at the dining room table reading his mail. He looked up & asked, "Didn't you check the radar?" I calmly (aren't you proud of me?) replied that yes, of course I had. His response, "Didn't you animate the screen? The rain is moving in a counterclockwise direction." Smartypants!

Now the third run - Saturday morning. I decided to go to the local track. When I got there I noticed that there was a hawk sitting on the ground in the middle of the oval. Cool! I am very intrigued by birds. As I was getting warmed up I noticed that another hawk had flown in & joined the first one. I had never seen one of these birds up close before. Let me just tell you, they are bigger than I thought they were! They are like twice as big as the big scary crows! They moved from the center of the oval to sit on the fence which was about 20 feet away. At that point they seemed really too close to me as I ran by. They were watching me, their little heads turning as I went by. They were there for the first two miles & then they flew away. I was a little apprehensive about them ganging up on me but I'm sure that's totally silly. I'm good at totally silly *grin*

The plan is to run as many times as possible this week. We will see if I have any more interesting things happen!