Nine Hundred Seventy-Eight

July 28, 2019
5.75 Miles in 57:32
Mood: Hot and forgetful
Soundtrack: Langhorne Slim & The Law "The Way We Move"

I completely forgot to take a picture on this run. Fortunately, tons of people post photos with a Wash Park tag, so I took a cool photo from Instagram user cjhanlon2017 from Sunday morning. It's a good picture, and I totally ran on that path, so it's as good as I could do since I forgot to use my own camera.

Man, I'd also just like to point out that July is hot. By the end of this run, I was a sweaty mess, and the heat kept me from getting to my preferred seven mile mark, as I felt like I was overheating. I'll still take it over snow, but if the temps had been 35 degrees cooler, I wouldn't have objected.

Nine Hundred Seventy-Seven

July 25, 2019
6.03 Miles in 1:03:22
Mood: Yarrrr!!
Soundtrack: Frightened Rabbit "The Midnight Organ Fight"

This playground is also a pirate ship, which I find to be exceptional. I love this playground. It made me wish I was 7 again so I could sail the imaginary seas on the playground without getting sideways looks from people who think I'm crazy.

Nine Hundred Seventy-Six

July 23, 2019
7.54 Miles in 1:20:10
Mood: Cool flower picture is the only memorable thing.
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Trench"

Purple flowers! This run wasn't all that interesting, but I like how this photo turned out, plus I got seven and a half miles in, so yay!

Nine Hundred Seventy-Five

July 21, 2019
7.12 Miles in 1:09:18
Mood: Lost in the crowd.
Soundtrack: Waterdeep "To Chase Away The Birds"

I run at Wash Park a LOT, but I have never seen more people there than this Sunday. There was a Donor Dash run event happening, and the park was just a jumble of people. I had to park blocks away, as the cops had streets blocked off, and at times while I was running it was less like running on a trail and more like running a human obstacle course. At times it was a little frustrating, but it was amazing that an event there attracted this many people. I have seen all sorts of runs for all sorts of causes happen, but none of them even had half of the folks this one brought out. I look forward to going next Sunday and hopefully not having to dodge quite so many humans.

Nine Hundred Seventy-Four

July 18, 2019
7.21 Miles in 1:13:23
Mood: Happy about one armed cyclists and cool inchworms.
Soundtrack: The Head and The Heart "Signs of Light"

I saw a one armed man riding a bicycle and a very large inchworm cruising down a sidewalk next to Ketring Lake, so that definitely qualifies as a good run. Also, Ketring Park has this large grassy area that always looks epic no matter what season we are in. I really love that park.

Nine Hundred Seventy-Three

July 16, 2019
7.49 Miles in 1:16:56
Mood: Feeling good!
Soundtrack: The Head and The Heart "Let's Be Still" and "Living Mirage"

I like this crazy spherical art outside of Goodson Rec Center. It's like planets on a stick. Also this is maybe the best I've felt on a run in a year. Two straight really good runs in a row. This one wasn't as fast as on Sunday, but I was able to run with very few breaks and pushed myself to a very solid seven and a half miles. So hooray for planets on a stick, they were a good omen.

Nine Hundred Seventy-Two

July 14, 2019
7.18 Miles in 1:10:18
Mood: I'm back, baby!
Soundtrack: Lord Huron "Lonesome Dreams"

After Friday's disastrous attempt at running, I felt amazing on this Sunday morning. My pace was under 10 minutes per mile, and I felt good the whole time I ran. Despite it being a hot summer day, I felt strong and good and right, and there is no better place to feel those things than while circling Wash Park. Just a night and day difference between Friday's disaster and Sunday's strong 7 miles. It was good to be myself again.

Nine Hundred Seventy-One

July 12, 2019
1.01 Miles in 10:18
Mood: Just an abject disaster of an attempt. I was mad that my body wouldn't let me run.
Soundtrack: Ben Folds Five "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner"

I could about a quarter mile into this abortion of a run that I was not going to get a real run in. My blood sugar was immediately low, and I was not going to have the energy to be able to do a legit run. I tried, but getting to a mile was a struggle and I knew I was finished.

I took a normal amount on insulin that morning, and then didn't take any for lunch, and I was still low all day. It was one of those weird days where insulin is just much more effective than it normally is and nothing makes sense. I was annoyed because I really wanted to get in a good run, but my body wasn't cooperating.

Nine Hundred Seventy

July 9, 2019
7.18 Miles in 1:11:21
Mood: Roses and acceptable distance. Yay!
Soundtrack: Ben Folds Five "Whatever and Ever Amen"

This house has an amazing rose covered hedge that goes around their entire front yard. It was spectacular on this Tuesday morning, and it made me generally happy. Plus I once again got in a solid 7 miles.

Nine Hundred Sixty-Nine

July 7, 2019
7.22 Miles in 1:09:18
Mood: Kind of a perfect morning.
Soundtrack: The Beatles "Rubber Soul"

If you have a perfect Sunday morning in the world's greatest park, might as well listen to the world's greatest band and get a solid seven miles in. Good advice for life.

Nine Hundred Sixty-Eight

July 5, 2019
4.17 Miles in 42:03
Mood: Gnomes in wizards and Avett prep.
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "Four Thieves Gone" and "Emotionalism"

I needed to get off work a little early, as I was heading with my wife and her sister and her sister's friend to Red Rocks that night for an Avett Brothers concert. So, I cut my run a little short to make sure I would be able to get my time in at work, and leave a little early. Also broke out a few of my favorite Avett albums as concert prep.

I also noticed that someone had placed a garden gnome in the mouth of the tree wizard on the Highline Canal trail. I don't know that it adds to the tree's awesomeness, but I took a picture of it anyway.

Nine Hundred Sixty-Seven

June 30, 2019
6.07 Miles in 59:40
Mood: Starting great, finishing less so.
Soundtrack: Grouplove "Big Mess"

On a stunningly perfect Sunday morning in Wash Park, I was feeling pretty good apart from a little soreness in my left hamstring. I did my first two laps at a good pace, and was thinking this would be a very successful run, then my stupid diabetes stuck it's head out and I hit a wall of low blood sugar. It wasn't the dangerous kind that leaves me shaking and struggling, just the kind that saps all my strength and makes it impossible to sustain running. I made it about halfway up the park before giving up and turning around for the car. I was only a mile short of my seven mile goal that separates good runs from subpar ones, and this one was on the cusp of being a great one, but sometimes you will a wall and can't do anything about it.

It was sunny and bright, which I loved, up until about 9:00. Just about the same time the low blood sugar hit, it suddenly felt painfully hot outside too. However, I'm not complaining about warm weather, because I save all my complaining for 12 degree days with snow. This was a pretty dang gorgeous morning.