Thor's Running Journal

 Yesterday morning I went on an 8 mile run, came home slept a bit, then woke up and went sailing for 10 hours. At the end of it all I felt tired, but not spent in the way I feel at the end the winter days that seem void of daylight.  There is a freshness about working to try and wear myself every day with activity and action. It all is a little more loose and relaxed too because I don't have a regimented check list of miles to run or ride or sail. The activity has a greater sense of fun and play. It doesn't need a specific end to make it worth while. Like my kids who go from one activity to the next in some undetermined pattern, I am moving between athletic endeavors in a similar way.  This is a good break. I'll welcome the training calendar in about another month, but for now I'm just rolling with what the day brings. 

This is the time of year when there is light on the horizon even at 4:30 in the morning. A slight hint of blue creates a glow around homes still mostly dark with the exception perhaps a streetlight. A sliver of moon coupled with Venus (the "morning star") stayed in front of me like a vision from a science fiction story. Seven miles seems like a long way when running around a city, but considering the scale of Earth it is an tiny distance. Given the scale of the universe it is infinitesimally smaller.  I felt good this morning. I felt smooth and strong. Better than I've felt in weeks. The little pre/post race niggles that create slight tinges of tender soreness seem to have resolved. I turned off the odometer and just ran with the timer going. I could estimate how far I went from running these routes for the past few years, but payed closer attention to my direction and orientation to the dawn than my precise location. East into the sunrise. West back toward home. To watch...

 Seven miles yesterday and 7 more today. I guess three points make a trend. Still not feeling any obligation to run any miles, but it does feel nice to get out into the fresh morning air. Watching the sunlight change the color of the morning sky is lovely. And the sounds of the birds chirping away is other worldly. They will stop when summer starts, but for now apparently they have plenty to sing about.  Without the cold and snow on the ground or any particular milage goals I am free to meander through neighborhoods at will. My springtime routs are much more interesting and less predictable than the wintertime squares. And, because it is lighter out, I can see what the houses actually look like.  Surprisingly, there still aren't a whole ont of people out and about. It makes me curious how things would change if a whole neighborhood decided to get up and out the door for a morning walk or run or to take their dogs out. Suppose sleeping in or getting ready for work or schoo...

My glasses kept slipping down my nose because of the sweat so I took them off and put them in my running belt. I could see good enough without them. There was enough light for me to distinguish people walking on the same side of the road. This evening I ran after a bowl of pasta and some airfryer crinkle cut fries. Not the brightest idea, but I felt like running and didn't think I'd get out the door if I didn't just go for it. I only felt about 40% terrible. Bad enough to make it unpleasant, but not so bad to cut the run short. I'm in 'not training for anything particular' mode. Sometimes I run 3 miles sometimes 5 miles. No real pattern or rhythm yet. I ran during the evening twice in a row. Its a weird place. I'm out of practice, but not out of shape. Running in the heat is so much different than running in the cool weather. My legs still feel a little bit awkward. My shoes feel sorta flat.  The few runs I've done in the evening have been more for my me...

 My first stop after finishing my half marathon last Sunday was the Toledo Museum of Art. My second stop was to get a new(to me) bike on my way home.  I'd been scoping the internet the past two weeks, but most of what I found was further from home than I wanted to travel. It occurred to me the drive between Toledo and Saginaw include a number of metropolitan areas with bikes a plenty. That said, anyone who ever purchased anything off Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace knows the unpredictability of sellers timing and availability.  Nonetheless, I took a shot at a bike in my budget and the right size and style. In three brief exchanges I arranged to take a look.  The transaction went off without a hitch and I became the proud owner of a motobecane le champion sl modified with aerobar for triathlons. Perhaps a little small, but adjustments could be made for the bargain I got. I'm not going to be doing any Ironman triathlons or anything like that…..this year.... The pas...