Lightning, nickels and bikers oh my!
I did NOT want to run my 4 miles tonight. But since I didn’t do my long midweek run Wednesday, I knew I HAD to get in another run before 10 long hard miles Saturday morning.
I texted Jamie to see if she wanted to go for a run, but ended up not being able to. So I finally dragged my ass out of my apartment for a short run around 9:15 at night. I figured it would be cooler out then. I didn’t run with my nano for fear of rain, so it was just me, the open streets of Rogers Park, it’s occupants and the fresh summer air.
I won’t deny that again, this was another hard run for me. I was sort of dreading the four miles even. It was still sticky warm, and even though there was a breeze, it wasn’t cooling me off that much. I ran north to Pratt, then east on Pratt to Loyola Park Beach…I ran along the lake front and listened to little kids playing in the sand as the distant rumble of thunder alerted me to an impending storm.
I enjoyed watching the light show over Evanston as I made my way up to the cemetery. I walked a lot, mostly because I’m out of shape and I was tired, but also because I just felt drained for some reason.
Once I hit the turn around point I walked further north On Sheridan to enjoy the lightning in the sky and then finally doubled back to head home.
While at the south east corner of Pratt and Sheridan I kept hearing the sound of falling change. I never saw were the money was coming from, but it appeared to be raining nickels all around me. Finally, after the cross walk light had lit up, I picked up one of the nickels and ran towards home.
I have NO IDEA who was throwing money at me or why. Strange…I ran under the el tracks getting closer to home when a friendly byciclist nearly ran me over. I took a giant side step in fright and he jerked his bike hard left to avoid colliding with me. I think I said “sorry” but it was he who was completely in the wrong. He appologized profusely as he repeated he was ignoring traffic signs and he hoped I was alright. I said, “safe travels man” and he thanked me with a warm smile and we were both on on merry ways.
Anyway…all in all it was a hard run for me. A lot of walking, strange events and just hard on my body. The entire run there was this nagging voice in my ear repeating itself over and over “you must get new shoes you must get new shoes you MUST get NEW SHOES”…I wanted to punch myself.
I KNOW ALREADY. I have to get new shoes, my old ones are shot. Next weekend, I’ll be lacing up some new Brooks Axiom’s and they will be awesome.
Hope training for everyone is going well…I really need to throw in some push ups and crunches after my runs because my arms are WIMPY!!!
Wimpy arms are NOT acceptable…plus, it makes running faster that much harder.
June 12 2008 09:35 pm | mid-week long run and training and weekly maintenance run