6.2:00.49.09

So, the girl and I went to Cleveland this weekend to hang out with her parents, and while we were there, run a race with her dad. Altogether, a really nice weekend: good food, really nice company, got to see where girl grew up (the lake is beautiful!) and meet her maternal grandparents. It's also nice to know that Super Puppy still recognizes me after a month, grin...

Right. So, the race: altogether, I'm pretty pleased - I beat my "realistic goal" again - ran it in under 50 minutes , hence the title - but didn't quite make my stretch goal of under 48 minutes. Definitely motivated going into the summer to work hard on my speed endurance to get my time down for some of the fall races I'm planning to run. This was a really straight, flat course - only two hills, really, and I did get to run down both of them. And it felt really good powering up that last hill, though I wanted to quit, without really breaking the pace. That said, it was also a really tough race in that it was really boring. The course ran out down a highway on one side and back the other. Nothing to look at, noone cheering. I really need to get my mental game into better shape as well, it would appear.

On a slightly related note, I just found out that the USATF amended their rules to allow headphones in non-championship events, though you still can't wear 'em if you want to win money. Terrible. I mean, I like running with my music just as much as anyone else, I imagine, but not so much on the day of the race. Those folks are just woefully unaware of the other people around them, which can be a pain in the big pack. And I'm certainly not fast enough to start and stay ahead of the pack. Though they do make nice targets when you need to find someone ahead of you to pick off, grin...

(Photo by mag3737, found on Flickr. Obviously from some race in Vancouver)

Plastic Bags

I'm all for saving the Anacostia, don't get me wrong. And the plight of the Chesapeake is deplorable. I'd also love it if we could, as a nation, become independent of fossil fuels. So, generally, yes. I agree. Plastic bags are a terrible thing. but when (if) the DC city council passes this $0.05-per-bag thing, pet owners across the city will suffer.

I need my plastic bags - I use one every day to scoop litter. Girl's giant dog creates some pretty nasty man-sized poo, which if she were to leave it on the sidewalk (and get caught doing so), entails a fine of something on the order of $50.

Ok, fine. You're right - I should man up and buy a couple of reusable bags. But I might start hoarding the free bags they hand out at the dog park. Just sayin'...

(Photo by Moriza, found on Flickr)

Kenya

So, girl has been in Kenya for a little over a week now. And though it was really nice to finally be able to chat with her yesterday (I can't tell you how much I appreciate that Google added video chat capability), I have a lot of lingering hostility towards the country. Mostly because its really difficult to communicate with someone who's running around in rural Kenyan villages from several thousand miles away. On the other hand, when I was scanning Flickr for images to use for this post, there really were an awful lot of beautiful pictures that make me think that maybe the solution, rather than getting mad at bad internet connections and the like, is for me to just finally renew my passport and tag along the next time work takes girl out of the country. On the upside, she's (finally) home tomorrow! (photo by eir@si: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eirasi/9194631/, found on flickr, apparently blogger has problems with words that contain an @ symbol, and I'm really just not saavvy enough to fix that link)

Breaking Up

Its over. And as much as I hate to say it, its because I've met someone else. We had a lot of great weekends together - sloppy drunk at 3 a.m. a few times, lots of sweaty breakfasts after long runs. But honestly, you're just not as available to me - I don't want to wait in line for you. In a relationship of this nature, I honestly just want you to service me well and fast.

So, The Diner, you've been replaced. Florida Avenue Grill will now be my weekend long run destination. The pancakes were awesome, the bacon better, and I'm pretty sure what I experienced afterwards was a diabetic coma induced by the apples. Breakfast potatoes are good - but they're just not worth the wait. I'm looking forward to this new relationship flowering. (photo by JamesCalder, found on Flickr)

Prime Numbers

I was recently riding the elevator to my own, private spot here in the cube farm, when I stopped to look at the buttons that people had pushed. And that was when I realized that, for no apparently good reason (other than my own mildly obsessive-compulsive nature), I have a really strong preference for riding in an elevator in which other people are going to prime-numbered floors. Clearly, the odd numbers only are a little bit better, because there's one fewer stop between me and the 7th floor. And obviously I'd love to have an express elevator to 7 that stopped right in front of my cube. But in the absence of those things happening, I'll settle for the primes. Prime numbers are pretty sweet, after all. Can't wait for my birthday this year, when I'll finally be a prime again. (photo by bogenfreund, found on Flickr)