Pounding The Cheez-Its Trail

Brrrr! It's cold out! I actually had to consider how much clothing to put on before running today. Haven't done that in a while. In case you're on the edge of your seat wondering, for the 50-ish degree temps this early afternoon, I opted for shorts and a long sleeved tshirt over my trusty stretchy, "compression" short-sleeved undershirt. Ah, I love that thing! It's so snug and cozy. And as much as I've complained about summer being over, it was nice to get geared up for a run instead of just thinking about how I'm going to avoid heat stroke.

Today I opted for another trip to Lunken for a Week 1 Bridge to 10K run, and I dragged my mom along with me (she walked, of course). I started at the southern end of the loop so I didn't have to worry about the short, crazy-steep hill midway through the run.

Good choice, Becks.

As my elementary and high school classmate (and running guru), Liz, says, Lunken is pancake flat. And that was just what I needed after my shin-wrecking runs of the past two weeks. No shin pain today!

My favorite part of today's run had to be during the second and third legs of my W1 workout. (For those familiar with the course, this was back on the part that runs parallel with Kellogg and then along some of the long backstretch.)

As I was staring at the ground (not the most healthy posture) and pounding away, I started to notice Cheez-Its. At first I thought it would be funny if these few Cheez-Its turned into some kind of "breadcrumb" trail. Then of course I started dreaming up the image of a runner with a baggie of snacks in his pocket. Or maybe a snot-nosed sweet little spawn of satan  toddler, screeching giggling and throwing snacks out of her stroller while her mom pushed her along on her workout.

Dontchya just love kids?

Well, in this case I do love kids, because the daydreaming kept my mind off my running for a little bit. The Cheez-It trail continued for probably about a half-mile, each one deposited maybe 50-100 feet from the other. And only one at a time. Finally, I reached the smashed Cheez-It, marking the end of the trail and, coincidentally, the almost-end of the "out" portion of my out-and-back path.

By the end of my run, I was wobbly-kneed but not dizzy, and I had cycled from freezing to frying and back to freezing again. My ears hurt from the wind and I was prepared for the upcoming nose-dive my body temperature was about to take.

Fortunately, my mom finished her walk just a smidge before me and popped over to the farmer's market next door to buy us an apple a piece. Yum! Then, as is becoming an unfortunate habit of mine following an Armleder or Lunken weekend workout, I stopped at Big Apple Bagels and got an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese. O-M-G. So good.

So, that's that! Good run.

In Run Like Hell news, the former coworker has officially registered for his very first 5K. I'm so stinkin' excited for him! And I'm excited about the event in general.

I picked up a few pieces to my costume yesterday. I'm actually excited about a costume for once in a very long time. I usually despise costumes. My typical explanation of those feelings goes something like this: "I have a hard enough time feeling comfortable in everyday clothes. How can you expect me to be remotely comfortable in a costume?" But, seeing as how this is a running event and everyone will be nasty and sweaty, I can definitely get on board.

PS, are you following me on Twitter yet? If not, I don't blame you.  =)  Nah, I'm actually trying to keep up with posting, including a few reposts of some great articles and quotes from the pages I follow. So, there's an option for you. My Twitter info is somewhere on that ---> side of the page. @MTLRunning

Later!  (feel free to point out typos ... I totally ran out of time to proofread)