Running Journal 20

I ran twice this week, because (a) I needed it, and (b) I had the opportunity. Neither run/jog/walk was outstanding in quality or quantity (12-minute miles x3), but they gave me an excuse to go to the pool and cool off.

Friday, I went out the door at 6:12 and made it to the Nature Preserve on East Park St. without incident. I chose to walk a short distance before starting the first of 5 laps, and I stuck to that pattern by walking a bit after each lap around the pond. The soft pea gravel trail and the pond itself are a pleasure for the senses and a lot more interesting than running on the street or the bike trail. Based on counting strides around a 400-meter track, I estimate a lap of the pond to be about a third of a mile. Using the same standard, it is two-thirds of a mile from my back door to the pond, so do the math. Five one-third-mile laps plus two-thirds out and two-thirds back makes three miles.

I am the Count, and I love to count. 

Saturday, I didn't.

Sunday, I went out the door at 6:10 with bread in the oven and dinner being prepared for the grill. I again made a bee-line for the Nature Preserve and adhered to roughly the same pattern - slow laps punctuated by short walks - and didn't push to go either faster or farther. Then I went for a swim at the nearly empty Jaycee Pool on Otterbein Street, and came home to a Chang Thai lager, a brot with mustard, and one of the best potato salads I've ever tasted. 

It was all so good I burned the bread and didn't care. 

I'm not going to get much stronger at this rate, but I'm not going to get much weaker either. I have taiji classes Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, so I get home and eat supper instead of running. Wednesday is usually a long workday before publishing on Thursday. Two or three good workouts on the weekend is all I'm going to get at this point, and I'll take it.