Obstacle Course

This morning, later than I'd like to admit, I went running. I've been running on the treadmill because of the weather, but at almost 40 degrees out at about 10 this morning, the great outdoors called my name.

I went out this morning with the goal of doing five miles. I charted a loop on google maps, taking me along the outside of Duke's West Campus to where my street dead ends, back through a neighborhood, and around the cemetary. At around 5.3 miles according to good old Google, I figured I'd walk the last two blocks or so to make it 5.

I set out, hoping that the course I mapped was mostly snow-free and had sidewalk. Much of Durham, unfortunately, is similar to the suburbs of Sacramento in that it often lacks sidewalk, even on heavily-travelled roads. About the first half of the way out was paved, but much of it was still covered in snow or ice, so I ran in the bike lane (at least I had that). Past campus, the bike land and sidewalk ended, as did any semblance of shoulder. I ran in the street, past a road-side memorial, hoping that facing traffic and being out in broad daylight would be good enough protection against speeding cars.

Luckily, I managed not to fall in snow or ice, and not to get hit by a car while out on my run. I'm planning not to test my luck again, so a new five mile route is in order. All told, the five miles were slow, but I was dodging obstacles along the way. Today's run matched my previous longest run since I broke my leg, and aside from the fear of cars and snow, felt fine.

I think I'll try this again tomorrow...

Detroit: A Surprisingly Beautiful Run

I was in Detroit for a conference last week, and had been apprehensive to run outside. Mostly, I was afraid it would be too cold. I was also worried that there wouldn't be anywhere good to run downtown near the hotel. My fears were unfounded.

Photo credit: Marriott.com

The Detroit Riverwalk is located directly outside the Renaissance Center, where I stayed. It goes about a half mile east, and 3 miles west down the Detroit River, which separates Detroit from Windsor, Canada. The Riverwalk is relatively new, well paved and lighted, and has plenty of amenities like benches, trash cans, and interactive signage. From a planning perspective, it is very well done.

From a running perspective, the Riverwalk is only slightly less spectacular. The Riverwalk doesn't go continuously west; in a few places, you have to go to the next street and back to the river. This is fine, but the first time I ran it is got a bit frustrating to go a quarter mile out to the water and then hit a dead end.

The weather was great- not any colder than it has been in Sacramento (maybe 40 degrees). On Tuesday, it was foggy and I couldn't see more than five feet across the water. I ran all the way to Belle Isle, a huge park in the middle of the river. The fog cleared by the time I got back to the hotel, and it was a nice view. Friday, I went out later, and had a great view the whole time.

Detroit, even in early November, gets an A+ as a running location!

Here is my long run on Garmin:

Our first real vacation run

John and I always talk about how nice it would be to run in a new city, while on vacation. We will see people running when we're out of town, and think that it looks nice. But then the reality sets in: we'd have to pack a whole extra bag to go running. And we usually walk a lot on trips, so we might not get a good run in anyway, or our walk would be tortourous. So we don't run.

Paris is a good example. How nice would it be to run along the Seine? Around the Eiffel Tower? Down the grand boulevards? But alas, we did not run in Paris. We walked miles and miles each day, and didn't have time to run.

For our trip to Seattle for our anniversary (Number Four!), we decided things would be different. We didn't have much we wanted to accomplish (like we did in Paris), and best of all, our hotel would be close to a nice running trail. So we brought the extra bag, and planned the time. And we went running.

We arrived Thursday morning, and walked maybe five or six miles that day.

On Friday, we got up and went running just after seven. We went down the Harbor Steps, to Alaskan Way, and towards the Olympic Sculpture Garden. Along the way, we ran on the waterfront, past the piers with the cruiseship, ferry boats, and the like. Once we got to the Sculpture Garden, we got on the waterfront trail. We took that along the water, on a nice paved trail with waterfountains and lots of other runners. We saw the views across the Sound, the ships and the far away mountains. It was beautiful.

We ran two and a half miles, then sat at a bench for a while to take in the view. I would never do that on a "real" run, but it was the real purpose of the vacation run. To see something new, something beautiful, while running in a new city. Then we turned back, and ran back to the hotel. Had breakfast in our running clothes. Got ready for our day, and started out our sightseeing recharged and accomplished. What a nice feeling.

Harbor Steps Photo: EquityApartments.com

Olympic Sculpture Garden Photo: Archinect.com

Waterfront Trail Photo: Flickr User Luton

Here is the route we took:

Not as Quick Five

John and I did five miles last night just as it was getting dark. It was too hot before dark, but the first mile of the route we take isn't well-lit and has no shoulder or sidewalk, so it needs to be a bit light out to do it.

I was a little whiny and we went a bit slower than I did by myself earlier in the week. I really need to get a handle on why I can't run as fast with John- even if he wants to- as I can by myself. It certainly is weird, and annoying.

I am officially 6 miles away from 500 for the year!

Rainy Sunday Run

I was sure glad to have company this morning for my weekly long run. We went to Fleet Feet for the Sunday group again, and about five or so people showed up to run in the rain. John and I ran with two of the regulars at the Sunday run, and they were kind enough to join me for my 14 miler this morning. It is nice to have people around in the group who are trained and into running enough to do 14 miles on a whim.

It was raining, but not too cold. It was actually very nice out. I wouldn't have been as happy with the weather if I had run by myself, so I'm glad they have the runs from the store. It really is a nice community service that Fleet Feet does by organizing the runs each week, with coffee to warm us up at the end to boot!

I'm still not a big fan of the rocks on the trail from Sutter's Landing to the H Street Bridge, but the benefit of having company is worth the slight discomfort of the rocks.

Here is the Garmin summary of the route and today's run, since I don't think I've added this route to my blog yet:

Morning Seven

I thought I'd map and post my morning route. I call it seven miles, though it shows as less. Crossing the street and going actually to my front door makes it closer to seven.


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