Out for Blooooooood

It's been almost a week, I know, I know. Oops.

Quickly then, I'll just say the 5K was a good run, generally fun, though mostly uphill which kind of sucked. But our time was right about the same as the last one, which had been mostly downhill (maybe even better if it hadn't been for awful cramps in Kelly's stomach and calf that required a few minutes' walking). Surely this is a sign of improvement. Adam finished in a little over 26 minutes, very respectable for one who hasn't been racing in years, although he is 6' 3" with very long legs.

The race was small, only about 150 people, but the Druid Hill Park course was nice (except for making us run the final quarter-mile uphill), there was lots of cheering and encouragement coming up to the finish line, and the post-race food was awesome. I love the Red Cross.

Ready to run

Just a quick note here. I'm in the middle of trying to pack up a small bag of clothes and shampoo and soap and stuff for the short overnight trip we'll be making up to Kelly's, and find directions to parking for the event. She and I (and Adam, too!) are running in the OUT FOR BLOOOOOD 5K tomorrow morning in Baltimore (you really need to say it like that). I'm really excited because of the name. I'm not excited about having to leave almost immediately afterward to drive the two hours back home to celebrate Father's Day with my dad because Sunday morning we have to drive two hours back up to celebrate my mother-in-law and her twin sister's 50th birthday, which is really today, and because clearly Saturday was not a good enough option. Please don't ask me what I really think about the whole thing.

I'll try to get on sometime this weekend, maybe, possibly...or, like, Monday...to let you know how the 5K goes. Meanwhile here's the snake we found last week in the tree near my car, that I said I'd post a picture of. I'm not sure what Keith was trying to do though.

Evidence of improvement

The solstice might be a few weeks away yet, but summer's already peeking around the corner. It wasn't quite as hot as it will be, but it was hazy, and I ran two miles yesterday in a cloud of tangible humidity, with deer flies jumping on my arms--those suckers land on you while you're moving! And they won't go away! They don't bother me quite as much as those damn sand fleas though; at least you can brush the deer flies away, and they're not so small that you can actually inhale them while you're running through a cloud of them. Ick. There was, however, a very nice breeze coming off the water. Nevertheless, it is very clear to me that I should learn to get up early on the weekdays and run in the morning.

I was supposed to run those two miles at a 12:37 pace, but I inadvertently ran a bit faster than that. As I approached the first mile marker, I looked at my watch and realized I had run the first mile in about 8:30. Whoa. I tried to slow it down a bit on the second mile, for fear that I would fizzle out and collapse in a wheezing, twitching heap on the side of the road, but it's hard to slow down when you're already feeling comfortable at a certain pace, and I finished at 17:38--that's roughly nine minutes for the second mile. I don't know that I could have run a full third mile, but I mean if I could, that would be *amazing* for me and the 5K I'm running next Saturday! I didn't think I could run that fast *ever,* and part of me still thinks my watch might be broken. Or maybe it's just the weather.

P.S. -- And oh, I left the Run-O-Cam in the car during running, but have some pictures of a snake Keith found in a tree near the car before we started. I'll post one for you later.

If I had gone jogging through the streets and squares of Savannah

If things hadn't turned out so...um... unexpected, I would have gone jogging in Savannah and I would have seen sights like this:

And this:

And the crossing signals would have spoken to me, telling me things like, "Wait...Wait...Wait...Now safe to cross Bay Street...Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven..."

But instead, I spent much of my free time here, fighting the urge to pack up and go home:

And that's all I have to say about that.