Five Hundred Sixty-Eight

December 30, 2016
8.11 Miles in 1:22:37
Mood: Finishing 2016 strong, also buying a banana on credit.
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "I and Love and You"

I hadn't ventured east in awhile, and I hadn't gone on a run that didn't mainly involve circling a Pokemon nest in awhile, so I decided to go on a good old fashioned long meandering run to the east. I felt great almost the entire way up until the final mile where I felt slightly low-blood sugary, so I stopped at Trader Joes and used my credit card to pay for a 19 cent banana, which felt wonderful and ridiculous at the same time. I love using my credit card for tiny purchases...seems so pointless. Finished my final run of 2016 to go over 110 miles for December. I've now gone three straight years going at least 100 miles every month...a streak I am intensely proud of, and which I work harder for every month, because I do NOT want it snapped.

Today's photo comes from about six minutes into the run when it was still far from sunrise, and these deer provided light for the street I was running on, and I thought they looked pretty.

Five Hundred Sixty-Seven

December 28th, 2016
7.86 Miles in 1:19:41
Mood: Deja Vu all over again.
Soundtrack: The After Disaster / Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything / My Brother, My Brother, and Me / Jordan, Jesse, Go!

This run felt remarkably like my previous run. Once again, I would be opening presents on this day. (Family that couldn't be here on Christmas showed up and we made plans to do an exchange later that morning.) Once again, I stayed almost exclusively in DeKoevend Park collecting Squirtles as I ran, and once again it was a beautiful day. The only substantive difference is that it lacked that Christmas feel, as only Christmas Day is Christmas, and I was listening to podcasts instead of Rich Mullins. Still, I got this beautiful photo of the sunrise in DeKoevend, so even if it felt similar, it wasn't EXACTLY the same.

Five Hundred Sixty-Six

December 25, 2016
8.77 Miles in 1:28:04
Mood: You gotta get running, it's Christmas morning!
Soundtrack: Rich Mullins "A Liturgy, A Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band"

It was a gloomy Christmas day, but I felt good. The sun refused to poke out from behind the clouds, and I even briefly had snow fall on me...not enough to truly qualify as a "White Christmas", but it definitely fell for about 10 minutes. I went out a bit later than usual, as we opened gifts that morning prior to my leaving, so I was in the post gift-giving glow, which had me in a pretty good mood. Since it was Christmas, I was listening to my favorite Rich Mullins album, which has several references to Christmas and is about as close to Christmas music as I get. I listened through it a couple of times in celebration of the holiday. I spent most of my time in DeKoevend Park collecting Squirtles, as I knew a migration was coming, so I had to gather my Squirtles while I could. DeKoevend is a gorgeous Park, so if you're going to do laps around a place, you could do worse. I didn't really find a good photo until I was on the final approach to home, and I saw these lawn deer with crystals in their antlers, which seemed appropriately Christmasy to me.

Five Hundred Sixty-Five

December 23, 2016
8.80 Miles in 1:34:27
Mood: Frightened by Wolves, motivated by Bulbasaurs.
Soundtrack: Passenger "Young as the Morning Old as the Sea" / Ben Folds "Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP"

It was two days before Christmas, and a gorgeous sunny day. I decided to run near the Cherry Creek Reservoir for one specific reason: Bulbasaurs. The park next to the reservoir was a Bulbasaur nest, and I was trying to collect a few to create my third Venusaur. If that means little to you, that's okay, just know that I was Pokemonning hard in a beautiful park as I ran. I didn't even realize I could get this close to the dam, I was in between the dam and I-225 for a good portion of this run, and there are some lovely trails through here.

I have recently been spending my lunch times at work in a Greenwood Village park that has a wooden cutout of a German Shepherd sitting in the middle of the park. Apparently, Greenwood Village puts these cutouts in all of their parks...I'm assuming to chase away geese and vermin. Not sure how well it works for those purposes, but on this particular morning, for about 2 seconds, I was convinced that I was going to be eaten by a wolf. The cutout pictured above was in the shadows and appeared to be a very large, very real wolf that looked aggressive and potentially hungry. After that initial jolt of adrenaline, I quite quickly came to the realization that I was safe and the wooden cutout was not going to hurt me, but there was definitely a moment of fear. Then I laughed at myself and took a few photos.

I did manage to hunt down a few Bulbasaurs as well as interact with a few fellow Pokemon enthusiasts. The two that I enjoyed the most were a couple of teenage stoners who were impressed that I was playing Pokemon, and also very impressed that I had a Dragonite. I got high five from both of them when I showed them my Dragonite, and they seemed overly impressed that I had one. I felt like I was about to be proclaimed their king for a moment.

Five Hundred Sixty-Four

December 21, 2016
7.68 Miles in 1:22:59
Mood: Enjoying the heat wave
Soundtrack: The Memory Palace / The Beef and Dairy Network / 99% Invisible / The Gist / The Hamilton Mix Tape

After the past week of what felt like an Arctic winter, I stepped out into a 34 degree morning and it felt downright balmy. This is the shortest day of the year, and it felt like it, as there was significant darkness for much of the run. Still, with the warm temperatures (relative to recent experience), I felt great as I spent a little time hunting Squirtles in DeKoevend Park before pushing my way down the Highline Canal Trail for a bit. It wasn't a super memorable run, but it felt good and I was able to see horses near the end, so yay!

Five Hundred Sixty-Three

December 18, 2016
5.71 Miles in 1:09:01
Mood: Running through a winter wonderland, replete with Seels.
Soundtrack: The Hamilton Mix Tape

It was 2 degrees outside when I began, there were 8 inches of snow on the ground, and 75% of Cheesman Park was not shoveled. Yet I ran. I did so for two reasons: One, I needed the miles, regardless of how slow they would come. Two, Cheesman Park was a Seel nest, and I needed Seels in Pokemon Go.

I bundled up so extremely that despite the frigid temps, I felt hot for a good portion of the run. Running through snow piles makes one really slow, which is a large part of the reason that my mile times exceed 12 minutes, which is RIDICULOUS on a normal run. Still, I was proud of myself just for getting out there. I ended up running almost the entire time without my glasses, because for the first ten minutes I tried to use my glasses and they would immediately fog up, and then because of the cold, the fog would form ice crystals and my lenses looked like snowflakes and were completely impossible to see out of. So, I just put them in my pocket and ran blurry. It was kind of nice...like running through a really cold Monet painting. I also caught enough Seels to evolve two Dewgongs, which was a major coup to my Pokemon collection.

Five Hundred Sixty-Two

December 16, 2016
8.12 Miles in 1:27:27
Mood: Tricked by warm early morning temps.
Soundtrack: The Mediocre Show / Ben Folds "Songs for Silverman" and "supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp"

I feel like the weather pulled a bait and switch on me this morning. It was 47 degrees outside as I left my house, and I was wearing minimal winter clothing, just a long sleeved running shirt, jogging pants and no gloves, as it was pretty comfortably warm. It felt great for about 45 minutes, but sometime in the 7 O'Clock hour a cold front blew in and suddenly the temperature dropped by 25 degrees and the wind picked up and the second half of my run was frigid.

I took the photo above as I was literally watching the cold front move in. You could SEE it before you felt it. Then I felt it, and I powered through to get additional miles and Squirtles, as I was camped out at DeKoevend Park since it's such a good place to mine Squirtles right now. While braving the cold I caught 26 of them, and got in a decent run to boot. Now if I could just keep those cold fronts from moving in on me.

Five Hundred Sixty-One

December 15, 2016
8.31 Miles in 1:27:07
Mood: A Squirtle State of Mind
Soundtrack: A Tribe Called Quest "Beats, Rhymes & Life" / Ben Folds "Songs for Silverman"

This run had a lot of Pokemon intrigue. The first three miles were spent mainly at the Streets at Southglenn loading up on supplies and the multitudes of Pokestops available there. However, the real fun came when I ran over to DeKoevend Park. I was planning to just run through and hit a trail, but then I realized that one of the closest parks to my house was a Squirtle nest, which means that a very rare Pokemon was suddenly in abundant supply and I could load up. I spend the next hour running around the park and managed to catch 13 Squirtles...my son's favorite Pokemon. Prior to this morning, I had only ever caught 26 of them in total...and that is playing since July. It was a pretty excellent morning.

Today's sunrise was spectacular, the sky went from black, to purple to pink and blue in a matter of about 15 minutes, and it was amazing to watch. Two years ago as I was preparing to have to begin running in the morning, I didn't think I'd ever reach the point where I prefer running in the bitter morning cold, but we may have reached that point. It's just better to run in the morning, and I love it.

Five Hundred Sixty

December 13, 2016
9.61 Miles in 1:41:22
Mood: Ambitious
Soundtrack: Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything / The Bill Simmons Podcast / The Walking Dead 'Cast

I felt really good this morning, and although I wasn't fast, I wanted to get in a lot of miles. The result was that I ran for nearly 10 miles which felt great even as it made me a bit late getting home to get ready for work. I was only about 10 minutes late to work owing to getting ready in a super fast hurry.

My slow pace is partially owed to the fact that I was playing Pokemon as I ran...something I hadn't really done for a few weeks. It was a solid outing for Pokemoning, and it didn't slow me TOO much.

As for today's photo, I like this person's decorating style. It has a homemade quality to it, even though I'm not certain that it's actually homemade. It beats Snoopy inflatables any day!

Five Hundred Fifty-Nine

December 11, 2016
8.29 Miles in 1:19:24
Mood: Proud of my status as the Master of Timing.
Soundtrack: U2 "Songs of Innocence"

I felt a bit torn, as my wife wanted me to help out with passing out water to runners in the Jingle Bell 5K Run and I wanted to get in a good long run on this Sunday morning. A group she and my kiddos volunteer with had signed up to help out at the water station for that charity run in Wash Park. My solution was to get to the park early, run as hard as I could until I had gotten in a significant number of miles, and then help out. I timed in perfectly (completely by accident), as I finished up my eight miles and arrived at the water station about 30 seconds before the first runners started arriving. It was truly a serendipitous bit of timing, which I took credit for as if I had planned it the whole time.

Passing out water to runners in a race is actually a lot of fun, although it's a bit weird to do so 30 seconds after finishing a run that is more than twice as long as the race they are running. Plus, I was super sweaty, and as you can tell from photo above, it was cold...so I started getting a bit chilly. Still, I had fun both during my run and during theirs.

It was a cold morning, but the photos I took make it look MUCH chillier than it actually was. As long as the sun was shining, it was downright pleasant...although perhaps much of that is owed to becoming acclimated to the sub zero temps from earlier in the week which made a 30 degree day feel balmy.

One last thing, I listened to the most recent U2 album (from a few years ago) through twice on this run. The general music snob opinion is that the music game has passed Bono and company on by, but I think this is a really outstanding collection of songs. I think people are just used to the old classic U2 and don't want to invest in their newer works, which I guess is their loss.

Five Hundred Fifty-Eight

December 9, 2016
4.31 Miles in 45:25
Mood: Not great, Bob.
Soundtrack: The Film Vault / The After Disaster

It's weird to think that at 11 degrees this morning was MUCH warmer than yesterday. Problem was that I was running outside this time, so it was much colder for me personally. Also, I pushed it pretty hard yesterday, and my legs did not bounce back as quickly as I might have hoped. I was cold and tired on this run, and couldn't really push through to get into a groove. This was one of those defeated runs where I walked half the time and just felt defeated...add to that the fact that it was too cold to be walking, and I was shivering as I walked defeated. Not a great morning for anything other than being slow and cold...still, the sunrise was pretty!

Five Hundred Fifty-Seven

December 8, 2016
8.03 Miles in 1:11:37
Mood: Okay with running inside.
Soundtrack: Judge John Hodgman / Hamilton Original Cast Recording / Lupe Fiasco "Lasers"

If you look at today's map below, you'll notice a few things. First, my path looks a bit like the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Second, the temperature listed in the top right corner is not a misprint. It was negative three degrees when I started running this morning. I have been accused of being crazy about running, but my insanity only goes so far. If the temperature has a minus sign before the number, I'm not running outside. Therefore this arctic cold front chased me indoors to the Goodson Rec Center track.

Running around in tenth of a mile circles is not my favorite thing, but every once in awhile, it's not so bad. I actually enjoyed being indoors, as it allowed me to run in short sleeves and shorts...something I haven't been able to do for awhile. I'm not entirely sure I actually got eight miles in, as you can tell from the map there were a few times my GPS went a little nuts, but in general, I don't think it padded my stats TOO badly. Plus, I had about a half mile stretch on my Tuesday run where I forgot to restart my running app, so I figure it all evens out in the end.

The best part about running indoors is the ability to retreat to a locker room equipped with a steam room. Ten minutes relaxing in there will restore your faith in all that is good. I felt amazing as I walked out freshly showered into the icy temperatures of the morning. I don't plan to run at the Rec Center that often, but it's sure nice to have in case of emergency.

Five Hundred Fifty-Six

December 6, 2016
7.06 Miles in 1:10:23
Mood: Frozen solid while the world gets weird around me.
Soundtrack: The After Disaster / The Dan Lebatard Show

It was eleven degrees outside when I left the house this morning. That is miserably cold. Thankfully, I have a balaclava mask that I was given as a Christmas gift last year which made it bearable. The funny thing is that I originally thought that the balaclava was something I'd never use, but I've pulled it out two or three times now on exceptionally cold days, and it's saved my bacon. On days when it gets this cold, it's actually motivating to keep pressing on running, even if I'm really tired. Reason being that after I've run for a couple miles, I get really sweaty, and if I stop, the sweat does an all too effective job of cooling me down when coupled with the bitter cold. I have to keep moving in order to keep warm. I did stop at one point because I needed a rest, and I quickly got super cold.

A few interesting things I came across during this run...I found this inflatable which combines Christmas with the Dark Side in a marriage that makes it obvious to me that you can sell anything with a Star Wars license. Also, I passed by a guy who appeared to be in his mid thirties who was just walking down the street in shorts and a t-shirt. I was legitimately worried that this guy would die. Hopefully he staved off hypothermia. I still can't believe I saw that.

The final weird thing I encountered this morning was what appeared to be a movie production in action. There was a big truck and a camera crew, and two actors. One woman who walked quickly away from a building to a car and dramatically tried to open the car door and then appeared to get angry and throw things and start crying. Then a man came from behind her and hugged her to comfort her. The acting was melodramatic and silly, which made me think I may have stumbled upon the filming of a Hallmark Channel production. Also, the car was parked in a handicapped spot, which I found distasteful. It was all I could do to keep myself from wandering into the background to ruin the shot for no other reason than to be obnoxious. I JUST managed to avoid doing so while watching the whole silly affair. What a weird thing to witness.

Five Hundred Fifty-Five

December 2, 2016
4.98 Miles in 52:22
Mood: Not totally feeling it, but putting in the miles.
Soundtrack: The Film Vault

I traipsed out into the freezing cold out of duty more than desire today. I wasn't feeling it, but I won't be able to run on Sunday, and I need the miles. I drug my feet getting out the door, and didn't actually start running until around 6:30, and I felt like taking it easy, so I pulled out my Pokemon app, circled Southglenn several times, and coasted to a very lame five miles. It wasn't fast, it wasn't inspired, but I managed to finish anyway. For the second day in a row the morning was as cold as the 76ers playoff chances, but I put in my time so that by the end of December, hopefully I finish my 36th consecutive 100 mile month...that was literally the only thing getting me out there this morning.

At least I got a good photo of the Southglenn fountain lit up for Christmas in the morning light, which looked pretty cool. I probably won't run again until Tuesday morning, so hopefully I'll be more in the mood by then.

Five Hundred Fifty-Four

December 1, 2016
7.23 Miles in ????
Mood: Cold, focused, and angry at Canadian Geese
Soundtrack: Blind Pilot "And Then Like Lions" / TV on the Radio "Seeds" / Robert DeLong "Just Movement"

December started with a solid run. This one's a little weird, because I'm not sure exactly how much time I spent running because my phone's battery died before I got home, and by the time I had plugged it in and gotten ready for the day, my phone said that my run lasted over 2 hours and I averaged over 17 minutes per mile...neither of those numbers are accurate, as I was averaging under 9:30 per mile almost all of this run and got hosed by not bringing a backup battery with me like I usually do.

Despite the stats being way off, I realized that if I don't play Pokemon while running, I can actually radically improve my stats. I mostly just buckled down and ran this morning, with a few breaks to catch my breath. It felt pretty good to focus, but as December begins, the real cold weather is finally starting to settle into Colorado. The first 30 minutes of this run were wicked cold, thankfully the sun rose and made me think I was warmer, even if the temps didn't significantly rise.

How about this photo? So many geese! Ketring Lake was filthy with them...literally. The path around the lake was littered with more green turds than I can ever remember. Geese are THE WORST. There are signs all around the lake saying "Do not feed the geese, it's bad for them." I may toss them a bag of bread specifically because it might make their survival less likely. I hate this gross birds...even if they are occasionally pretty, they still gross up the place pretty badly.

Five Hundred Fifty-Three

November 27, 2016
9.37 Miles in 1:26:51
Mood: No nonsense
Soundtrack: Hamilton Original Cast Recording

I needed 9.2 miles to get to my 100 mile goal for November, and since every day is potentially ruined by snow this time of year, I wanted to attain that target and not have to rely on a Tuesday run that may or may not come. I decided to get serious. I went to Wash Park and decided that I would loop it four times and keep the Pokemon app off. The resulting run was faster paced than I've gone in quite some time, and I managed to hit my goal and still get home early.

I was also fortunate in that I saw the only moment of the day where the sun shone. It happened shortly after dawn, and I took the above photo of a tree. Shortly after this moment, the clouds rolled in, and it was mostly gray and gloomy for the rest of Sunday. It even briefly snowed on my as I began my fourth lap. It wasn't a highly memorable or amazing run, but it sure was efficient, and I even pulled out my Hamilton music to make it more enjoyable.

Five Hundred Fifty-Two

November 25, 2016
7.54 Miles in 1:13:32
Mood: Lacking in flow, but in the best possible way.
Soundtrack: Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything / The Memory Palace / 99% Invisible / The Allusionist / The Gist / The After Disaster

This was the run where I cleared out my podcast queue of all the little short pods that were lingering in the queue. I jumped from topic to topic including such items as invasive surveillance, a strange 18th century failed artist, Mary Shelley's inspiration for Frankenstein, a Chinese city which seems to exist solely to supply the world's dollar stores, and the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. There wasn't much flow to the topics or to my running pace, but it was a lovely morning with no clouds and beautiful trees, and the seven and a half miles flew past. There was one section where I could feel my blood sugar dropping, and I had to take a brief break to eat and recover, but in general, it was an inconsistent yet enjoyable outing.

Five Hundred Fifty-One

November 24, 2016
8.20 Miles in 1:21:14
Mood: Thankful and Meandering
Soundtrack: Walking Dead 'Cast / The Beef and Dairy Network Podcast / Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness "Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness"

Thanksgiving is a pretty great holiday, but this was one of the weirder ones I've ever had. Usually, I spend it with extended family eating turkey and watching football, but this year it was just my family of four, we had a chicken instead of turkey (which is actually a tastier bird), and I barely watched any football all day. Instead, I found myself sleeping in, and then going on a meandering jog through downtown Denver.

I went a little overboard on catching Pokemon while running, and ended up on an extended run that took many diversions into catching them all. I felt zero sense of urgency, which was perhaps a mistake, as I caused our chicken dinner to be postponed a bit due to the fact that I was home later than expected, but while I was downtown, I was enjoying an absolutely beautiful day. The only downside was that it was pretty chilly as I left home, so I wore a heavy hooded sweatshirt on my run which became unnecessary about 15 minutes into my run, but which I refused to just abandon on the side of the road and therefore I was hot and overdressed.

The weirdest moment of the run came when this random girl walked up to me and asked where she could get a cup of coffee. She said she forgot it was Thanksgiving, and everything was closed and she was dying for a good cup of Joe. She was overly friendly...in a mind-programmed cult kind of way and she had a really strange name that I cannot remember. Still, she didn't really creep me out, I was more amused at the odd nature of the entire conversation. Sadly, the best suggestion I made for coffee was hitting up a 7-Eleven, which I'm certain does not qualify as a "good" cup of coffee, but if it's Thanksgiving and everything is closed...you take what you can get.

Today's photo comes from a new art installation which is located right next to the McNichols Building in Civic Center Park. I like the bike, but I'm not sure why the back half of it is covered in sheet metal. Is it still being unpackaged, or is this the finished product? Unclear. Either way, the fact that the State Capitol Building is peeking around the back of the building in this photo makes me extra happy.

Five Hundred Fifty

November 20, 2016
7.60 Miles in 1:17:43
Mood: Overdressed for downtown.
Soundtrack: Passenger "Whispers" and "Young as the Morning Old as the Sea"

As I left the house, the temps were in the low 30s, and I made a critically bad decision. I put on a heavy hooded sweatshirt to stay warm on my run. This made sense for the first ten minutes of my run, but as my body temps rose and the sun came up, it became way too hot and sweaty. Still, unless I wanted to just ditch my sweatshirt somewhere in the heart of Denver, which I did not want to do, I was stuck wearing too many clothes. It wasn't unbearably uncomfortable, but I felt overly hot and sweaty...which never feels great.

The run itself was actually quite nice, though. I was able to get an early morning view of Cheesman Park and then run through downtown to Confluence Park and back. After snow had fallen on Thursday, Sunday was the first day where it felt like the snow had fully melted and it was easy to run again without weather concerns.

The photo for this run is a beautiful old stone building which looks like a castle. It looked amazing in the light of dawn. The picture sort of captures how cool it was, but not as well as being there. Also, there was a Squirtle spawning on the front lawn, so it was even that much cooler of a place on Sunday morning.

Five Hundred Forty-Nine

November 17, 2016
8.88 Miles in 1:28:21
Mood: Impending doom
Soundtrack: James Germain "Jane Misanthrope" / Hop Along "Painted Shut" / Mutemath "Odd Soul"

After 201 consecutive Denver days without snow, this was the day that glorious streak would come to an end. I knew the vile white stuff was coming, so I tried to cherish this run as much as I could. I hit the Highline Canal Trail because once snow hits, it tends to make the path muddy, icy and unrunable for months at a time. The cold front had not yet hit, so the weather was pleasantly in the 40's, but there were unmistakably gloomy clouds moving in and there was a gray foreboding in the air. I took a picture of these berries which had shriveled and turned black...I can only assume because they knew the snow was coming and were so depressed that they took their own lives.

The actual run was actually quite pleasant, but I couldn't shake the feeling of dread from the impending storm. Even though the forecast actually calls for nice weather in the coming week, I still can't help but feel like winter has closed it's icy grip around me, and it makes me shudder a bit knowing that the warmth of spring is months and months away and the cold and darkness of winter will only get worse. (In case you didn't pick up on it, I don't like winter and snow.)

Five Hundred Forty-Eight

November 15, 2016
8.27 Miles in 1:25:19
Mood: Purple Mountains have me feeling majestic.
Soundtrack: The Wombats "Glitterbug" / The Decemberists "What a Terrible World, What a Wonderful World" / Pandas & People "Out to Sea" / James Germain & the Grey Gray Days "Criminal Heart"

Yes, indeed, the mountains sometimes look purple. The whole "Purple Mountains' Majesty" thing is not a myth. Nature was conspiring against me to stop and take far too many pictures. There was a super moon setting in the west as the sun was rising, and it was far prettier than it had any right to be, even if I couldn't really get a good photo of it. Then the sun rose and made all the trees and mountains light up in beautiful ways. I'm never fast anymore, but I was even slower than normal due to my many breaks to shoot photos of the beauty.

Considering it's the middle of November, the weather is truly ridiculous. It was over fifty degrees early this morning, and before noon today the temps are going to be in the mid seventies. Snow is in the immediate forecast, so SOON the weather will be seasonal, but right now I'm loving the unseasonableness of the whole thing.

It was truly a beautiful morning to be awake and about in nature, and it's days like this that make me thankful to be a morning runner. We'll see how thankful I am this Thursday when my weather forecast app has a been snowflake on that day on the calendar. It'll be a shame to say goodbye to late summer weather in November.

Five Hundred Forty-Seven

November 11, 2016
8.21 Miles in 1:24:27
Mood: Finishing Friday strong since Sunday wasn't happening.
Soundtrack: The Gist / The Bill Simmons Podcast / The Lumineers "Cleopatra"

After a crazy week at work, my mind was kind of fried. I just ran with abandon and did another longish run knowing that I would be missing my Sunday run since I was going to attend the early Sunday service at Mission Hills so that I could watch the Broncos play an early game in New Orleans. If I wanted to get in some miles, I needed to do so on Thursday and Friday, and after this run was over, I had done over 17 miles in the past two days, so mission accomplished.

I really like the picture for today's run, because I like how the shadows from the fence make it look as if the fence is extending into the trees. This picture would be way cooler if the power lines weren't there, but it still is pretty nice.

Five Hundred Forty-Six

November 10, 2016
9.19 Miles in 1:32:50
Mood: Lingering longer with the threat of no shower.
Soundtrack: The Dan Lebatard Show / Lupe Fiasco "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" / Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip "Angles"

I hadn't hit 9 miles in awhile, and this might not have been the smartest day to do so, as they were shutting the water off in our townhouse community at 9AM, which meant that when I got back, I had about 15 minutes to get a shower in before there would be no water, but I still went long because the day was beautiful and there were red berries to photograph.

Five Hundred Forty-Five

November 8, 2016
8.22 Miles in 1:24:15
Mood: Watching democracy in action.
Soundtrack: The Walking Dead 'Cast / 99% Invisible / The Gist

I passed by a ballot drop box this morning which was being manned by three mild mannered women who were trying to comfort a very confused and angry old man who was yelling at them because he wanted to vote and he thought they wouldn't let him. The problem was that this is a ballot drop off point, so you can only vote there if you had a ballot mailed to you. He didn't have this happen, so they couldn't help him. He kept angrily yelling, "IS THIS WHAT AMERICA HAS COME TO?!?!?" at the women. They kept calmly explaining that he'd have to go to a polling place and if he did so, he could vote there, and he kept on yelling back at them. It was a weird moment, and it made me think that maybe this guy should perhaps NOT vote if he's so thick as to not understand that this whole confusion and all of his anger were a result of his own mistake. I'm not sure I want that guy voting.

Anyway, I dropped my ballot off last week, and as I ran this morning, I did keep thinking about how no matter what happens, this whole ugly election will finally be over tonight, and I won't have to sit through any more election commercials, and that thought alone made me happy. I've done my civic duty, and I even asked one of the ladies working the drop box if I could have an "I Voted" sticker which I am proudly wearing today. I love that little sticker.

Today's photo comes from the Highline Canal Trail. It wasn't terribly original, as I've posted a similar type picture a lot lately, but I barely diverted at all from the trail today, and the colors looked pretty. Soon the trail will be unrunnable thanks to inclement weather, and my photos may be forced to become more diverse, but I'm going to enjoy my Highline Canal Trail as long as I possibly can.

Five Hundred Forty-Four

November 6, 2016
8.11 Miles in 1:18:53
Mood: Reflective, whether I want it or not.
Soundtrack: 99% Invisible / The Memory Palace / The Allusionist / The Mediocre Show / Counting Crows "Somewhere Under Wonderland"

The instant after I snapped this photo, a gruff old man walked up to me and wanted to have a conversation about the reflective levels of the lake. "It's not usually so reflective, you see..."

I feigned interest, and tried to be as friendly as possible while backing away slowly in an attempt to get away. I've never met anyone who was so interested in the various reflective capacities of a body of water. Thankfully after a minute, his wife ambled up behind him and he continued his diatribe about reflection with her. I was able to sneak away and start running south. It's not that he was rude or even insufferable...he just had so much to say about light reflecting off of water that I found him to be overwhelming. I was happy to get away.

Apart from that conversation, and even including it, this was a pretty swell morning at Wash Park. There were wispy clouds, a few yellow leaves clinging to trees, geese everywhere, and did I mention the lake was more reflective than normal?