Day 33: Paperboy

Date: March 31st 2011, 6:00 pm
Distance: 5.6 miles
Weather: Balmy

My run was broken up into two portions: Running south to the Tanner building (and staying for a club meeting) and running the rest of the route. Too bad I can't do that during the real race.

The weather was blissful. The traffic was quiet for most of my route (Canyon Rd. quiets down as you keep going north). I found myself running in residential-land except for the occasional strip mall.

Now that I think of it, it kind of looked like Newcastle (uh, South Africa folks. By the way, there are no fewer than 45 Newcastles in the world, including one in Washington, Texas, Colorado, and Utah. Who knew?).

Anyways, about halfway through the run a big grey dog jumped out from behind a bush and scared the bejezes out of me. It proceeded to bark and growl at me as I ran for my life. As it continued to chase me, I started to feel this sense of deja vu. Then I realized that this had happened to me many a time on Paperboy. That dog was the single most fearful obstacle in the game. Every time I played, as soon as I saw that dog, I knew I was hosed. Fortunately, this time the dog gave up pursuit after a few short seconds and I left it in the dust.

The rest was easy... another run down. And as far as I'm concerned, any run where I don't wind up as a chew toy for Beethoven is a success.

Day 32: Stuff You Should Know

Date: March 30th 2011, 9:00 pm
Distance: 6.3 miles
Weather: I never really noticed it so it must have not been that extreme.

On today's run I decided to do something different. I decided to run while listening to Podcasts. I queued up a couple episodes of "Stuff You Should Know" and hit the streets.

"Stuff You Should Know" is a podcast done by howstufffworks.com. The site is garbage (it has become infested by a swarm of ads) but the podcast is hilarious. Each episode is loosly based on an article from howstuffworks.com and the hosts really make it good. I started my run by listening to "How Does Gross National Happiness Work" followed by "How do dogs perceive time?" By the time the second podcast was over, I was home again.

Wow.

Conclusion: Time flies when you are running while listening to podcasts. I was almost unconcious of the fact that I was running. The funny thing is, these podcasts weren't even the cream of the crop (Check out "How Twinkies Work" or "How Muppets Work" for some promising ones). I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing this again in the near future.

Day 31: Utah Lake

Date: March 26th 2011, 8:30 am
Distance: 17 miles
Weather: A smatter of snow on the ground

My plan was to take the Provo River Trail down to Utah Lake and back. Simple enough. Unfortunately, after about a mile I missed the turn getting on to the river. I was running though neighborhoods, quite lost, until I saw the Carriage Cove apartments and remembered that the trail goes right behind them. Once I was back on track, running next to the river was nice. There were ducks all over the place.

The trail was still closed at I-15. This time I read the signs though, and they said that it would not be open again until summer 2012. WTH?!? (what the heck). The detours weren't the most clearly marked, and you can tell from the map that I got a little creative.

As I was getting closer to the lake, I picked up a skipping stone. Whenever I saw a better one, I dropped the one I had and grabbed it. This went on and on until I got to the lake. I ran out to the end of the dock and flung the rock. 3 skips, and the last one was weak. I know... kinda anti-climactic, but what can you do.

As usual, all the water fountains were turned off. At least the mosquitoes weren't there. Jeff can testify when I say I have never seen so many mosquitoes as I saw in that spot when we volunteered to assist at the Utah Valley Marathon.

A few other notable item:

• A man walked past me on the trail who was the spitting image of Popeye the sailor man. No joke... he even had the black tobacco pipe. And don't just assume that I think any schmoe walking around with a tobacco pipe looks like Popeye. The chin, the mouth, the scowl... it was all there.
• Call me cheesy but I decided to make it a game to smile at everyone I run past. The rule was that I had to smile bigger than they did. There were a lot of runners on the trail and honestly, for the most part, it wasn't that hard. However, there was a really happy man near the end that gave me a run for my money. I already had 16 miles on me and smiling wasn't coming that naturally by that time.
• There was a bunch of spray paint graffiti along the trail. One thing I saw over and over again were the words "Wampus Cat" with the anarchy symbol replacing the "A" in cat. Gotta hand it to them for their creativity. 
• I saw another uneaten banana in the road. I know you think I'm making this up since I saw one last week. Remembering mom's advice, I chose not to eat this one either. Plus it was pretty filthy... just chillin in a mud puddle. No thanks.

Day 30: Bittersweet 16

Date: March 24nd 2011, 10:30 pm
Distance: 3.9 miles
Weather: Chilly

I ran with a heavy heart today, just having watched BYU drop out of the NCAA tournament after losing in overtime to Florida State. It's a bittersweet day. Sweet, having made it into the Sweet 16. Bitter because... well, you know. In memory of the cougs, this post will point out both the bitter and sweet aspects of today's run.

Bitter

• Starting way too late
• A car drove up behind me and honked. It scared the bejeezes out of me.
• I ran past a guy walking down the dark street in a full suit and tie. It was 11 at night, he was limping, and he looked a little disheveled. I think he was a zombie.

Sweet

• Running the trash out to the dumpster makes me feel like a good husband.
• Short runs are nice
• Running downhill makes me feel fast

I guess I'll be putting away my 7 foot cardboard cutout of Jimmer Fredette. Oh well... I'll be pulling it out again when he gets drafted by the Suns.

Day 29: The Blustery Day

Date: March 22nd 2011, 4:00 pm
Distance: 5.8 miles
Weather: Kite Flying Weather

The sun was shining so I left the gloves and hat at home. Heck it's almost April. Hallelujah. Unfortunately, as soon as I headed North, I found myself running directly into a strong headwind. How strong? You remember that scene from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day when Piglet begins to blow to away so Pooh grabs his scarf, only to have it unravel to a long thread until piglet is flying like a kite? It was kind of like that. Pretty soon my ears and fists were quite cold. I took comfort in the fact that I would turn around at my halfway point (Will's Pit Stop) and not have to deal with it again.

And I did. It was at about this time when I saw something awesome. Stopped in the turn lane was a guy in a pickup truck with the windows down and two dogs in the back. It felt like Afton, but this isn't the best part. He is also blasting the stereo, which is playing a rippin saxophone solo. No Lonestar. No AM radio. Just Sax. It was a "one of these things is not like the other thing" moment.

In closing, today was the first time this year I saw somebody running without a shirt on. It would have been too cold for me but I still think it is a sign for warmer days to come. This is just as good as the groundhog not seeing his shadow.

Day 28: 15 miles

Date: March 19th 2011, 8:15 am
Distance: 15 miles (never would have guessed that, huh?)
Weather: Grrrrrreat!

It was a long run... deep South into unfamiliar territory, and back again. Most of the run was on the same road, so I just had to keep me head up and keep moving forward. However, there was plenty to keep me interested. Following are the top 5 sights from today's run.

1. The Banana - about 2/3 of the way to Springville I ran by a banana on the shoulder of the road. It was a full banana... not just the peel. Remarkably, it was in really good condition... not withered or bruised or anything. It had probably been there for no more than a day. Maybe 500 meters further down the road, I saw another one, only this time it was just the peel. On the way back, I'll admit, I was feeling a little burned out and I entertained the thought of eating the first one. But Momma always used to say: "If you are ever going for a run and you see a banana lying in the road, don't eat it." So I didn't.

2. The Memorial Bench - There's a bench at a bus stop in Springville that is made out of marble and looks just like a headstone in a graveyard. Engraved into the sitting surface are the words "In Memory of _____ _____" and it has the dates the person lived and everything. So, its like sitting on this guy's headstone as you wait for the bus. This makes me wonder... is this person buried right here at the bus stop? Is the bus stop haunted? Is it just a memorial? Either way, something just felt disrespectful about taking a seat, so I decided to move on.

3. Topsoil For Sale - I swear, I saw five or six signs and billboards advertising topsoil for sale. I don't know why, but I found this quite amusing.

4. Motorcycle Statue - In downtown Springville there is a sweet statue of a Harley Davidson Motorcycle. It looks like a bullet or speed record bike or something. Check out the picture: 

5. Spanish Fork Windmills - You can't see these windmills from inside Springfield but you get a good glimpse of them as you are approaching. When you have them all spinning like they were today, it's just a cool sight.

It is also nice running in Springfield for once. I've spent a lot of time running in Orem and Provo, so being in a new city brings about a nice change of atmosphere.

Day 27: Gluttony

Date: March 18th 2011, 9:00 pm
Distance: 4.2 miles
Weather: Cold and clear

Hey, I'm past the halfway point... being on #27 of my 51 runs. I'd celebrate, but I'll save it for when BYU beats the Zags on Saturday.

I always seem to run my routes in a clockwise manner. This one went North, right at the MTC and down past the stadium. Apparently the garbage man took a day off because a bunch of the houses on the street still had their trash bags out. It'll be a feast for any stray cats out there. I'm thinking of that scene in Charlotte's Web when Templeton the rat goes into the fairgrounds after hours and chows down all the old food (sorry... I would have posted it here but I couldn't find it on youtube). Oh baby... that's one of the best gluttony scenes in all film (although the heavyweights party takes a close second... couldn't find it either).

As I ran past the intramural fields, I saw enough of an intramural football game to watch a guy drop an easy, deep, pass. You could hear his teammates saying "Jeez Devin!" and stuff like that. Sorry pal... you could always take up running.

I don't usually take music on the short runs, as a principle, but at least it would have given me something to listen to. The rest of the run was actually quite boring. At least it gets me one run closer to the marathon.