Eleven Hundred Seven

April 28, 2020
8.50 Miles in 1:23:15
Mood: Appreciative of the encouragers out there.
Soundtrack: Grouplove "Healer" and Panic! at the Disco "Death of a Bachelor"

I love that so many people are trying to be positive and encouraging during this pandemic. The power of the human spirit is uplifting, even when it is displayed in painters tape on a garage.

Eleven Hundred Six

April 26, 2020
7.31 Miles in 1:12:15
Mood: Struck by architecture and a lack of open restrooms.
Soundtrack: Waxahatchee "Saint Cloud"

This is the Mullen Building. It is very fun to look at thanks to the cool brick work which transforms it from a boring old building into something that evokes volcano eruptions. It is now an administrative building for Saint Joseph's hospital, although it began it's life as a dormitory for hospital workers in 1933. I took a bunch of pictures of this place, because I had never seen it before and was kind of captivated by it's architecture.

The other memorable moment from this run comes as a byproduct of just about everything being closed due to Covid-19. Turns out all the bathrooms are closed too, and if you really gotta go, it can lead to some...let's say...stressful moments. I had about a 20 minutes crisis which was finally mercifully relieved by a port-a-potty in Cheesman Park. I have never been happier to see a port-a-potty.

Eleven Hundred Five

April 24, 2020
9.04 Miles in 1:32:56
Mood: Taking precautions is getting out of hand.
Soundtrack: Sounds of the outside world. (I forgot earbuds again)

The coronavirus is getting so bad that even statues have to take precautions. I do have to admit that when I saw this, I laughed. Then I took a picture almost immediately because I knew it would make the blog. Sometimes you just know immediately.

Eleven Hundred Four

April 21, 2020
7.60 Miles in 1:17:08
Mood: What is the story with this license plate?
Soundtrack: Nada Surf "Never Not Together" and "Let Go"

So I'm just wondering if this guy thinks his car is boxy, or he's Caucasian boxer who is really into racial identity politics. Either way, he's bad at parking between the lines.

Eleven Hundred Three

April 19, 2020
7.55 Miles in 1:12:37
Mood: Putting my pulse on the anxiety of Americans.
Soundtrack: Wash Park ambient noises

After Friday's run, I forgot to take my wireless earbuds out of my pocket, and then ended up in the washing machine. Wireless earbuds do not do well in a washing machine, they were ruined. However, I did not throw them away, but left them on top of the fridge for some reason. I brought out another pair that I could use on my run, but when it came time to leave, I grabbed the ones off the top of the fridge like a dummy and then when I arrived at Wash Park...they still didn't work. All that to say, I ran without music on this run.

The lack of music led me to hear multiple fragments of conversation about the coronavirus, and how people are responding. I wasn't able to hear full thoughts, but in this weird time, basically it's the only subject of conversation. So from a socially safe distance, I was able to hear the emotional tone of anxious America in tiny conversation snippets. It's a weird time to be alive, and I really don't want to forget my earbuds again. (At least not for awhile.)

Eleven Hundred Two

April 17, 2020
7.90 Miles in 1:20:56
Mood: Brrrr, too cold for April.
Soundtrack: Robert Delong "Just Movement" and "In The Cards"

This photo makes it look like it was a freezing morning, and let me assure you that it was. I was bundled up and wearing long underwear and it was cold (19 degrees when I started), but if nothing else, it allowed me to get a picture from my perfect picture spot with winter weather conditions, so it wasn't a total loss. Just totally cold.

Eleven Hundred One

April 15, 2020
7.76 Miles in 1:17:19
Mood: Feeling weird on a Wednesday
Soundtrack: The Killers "Sam's Town"

I ran on a Wednesday night, because the kids were doing online youth group with our church and the weather was calling for frigid temperatures and snow on Thursday morning, and it was a gorgeous pre-snow night, so I ran at a very weird time for me, and ended up getting a picture of a neon sign that I never see turned on. It feels so strange to run in the PM. Also, it took FOREVER to fall asleep mere hours after finishing.

Eleven Hundred

April 14, 2020
7.60 Miles in 1:18:19
Mood: If it's going to snow, it should be like this.
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Trench"

I skipped my Sunday run because of snow, and while it finally stopped snowing, it was only 15 degrees when I left the house on this Tuesday morning. Although it was cold, and I was wearing extra layers, it didn't feel that bad, and I was encouraged that even with two days of nearly straight snow, it was spring snow...which meant that it didn't really stick. In January this much snow would have meant that the Highline Canal Trail was unusable for weeks, but the trail was clear because spring snow is much less annoying. (Still annoying, just much less so.) By later Tuesday afternoon, everything was completely melted...which was glorious.

One Thousand Ninety-Nine

April 10, 2020
8.52 Miles in 1:26:06
Mood: Triceratops!
Soundtrack: Nada Surf "Never Not Together"

Everytime I think I've found all the weird decorations local people put out in their front yard, something like this happens and I find a giant triceratops just chilling out by these people's front door. This exists less than a mile from my house, and I only just recently discovered it while on a walk with the fam. Needless to say, I think it is wonderful, and well worth going an mile and a half out of the way from what would have been my normal Friday run to photograph.

One Thousand Ninety-Eight

April 9, 2020
7.40 Miles in 1:14:38
Mood: Enjoying a "turf" war
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "Closer Than Together"

While on a walk yesterday, I discovered a new local landmark that made me very excited to post today's run. That will have to wait for another day, however, because of this awesome lawn covered in pink flamingos. What made it even better is that the next door neighbor was sitting on her front porch and from a socially distant distance she gave me the full story. Apparently the guy who lives at this house "Peeped" her lawn...like 100 peeps on sticks stuck all over her lawn. To get him back, she "Flocked" his yard. I'm pretty sure she was sitting outside waiting for him to discover it. This whole story was very wholesome and wonderful, and it made me very happy.

One Thousand Ninety-Seven

April 7, 2020
8.40 Miles in 1:26:41
Mood: Kinda tired.
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "A Carolina Jubilee" and "The Carpenter"

I feel like this mannequin is as sick of corona virus as we all are. She just looks over it. (But in a cool way.) I ran around a deserted outdoor mall this morning while taking pictures of mannequins in windows like a crazy person because nothing makes sense anymore, so why not? Mostly, I'm tired of not being able to go and do things...(other than running, thank God I can still do that.) And I'm tired of uncertainty. I want to know when sports will start up again and I can go back to working from the office, and go to restaurants and go see a movie, and meet up with friends, and not have to avoid all other humans like the literal plague. I feel like I'd be able to cope better if I knew when it was all going to end. Having a finish line to work towards helps you feel like you aren't running endlessly. Egad.

One Thousand Ninety-Six

April 5, 2020
8.07 Miles in 1:19:22
Mood: Cracking under the Covid Stress.
Soundtrack: Shovels and Rope "O' Be Joyful" and "By Blood"

This is the first run where I'm showing signs of beginning to crack under the corona virus paranoia. I originally had intended to run around Wash Park, but there were enough people running there that it was difficult to maintain that arbitrary 6 feet of distance we have been told we must maintain between others to stop Covid-19 from spreading. I was trying hard, but just decided it'd be better for my own peace of mind to just run the city streets for the most part and head up from Wash Park to Cheesman Park and back. Fewer people to avoid that way, and it's a pleasant run. So I got a little bit of a taste of the Wash Park that I love without having the stress of having to avoid folks the whole time, and I got to visit this spot, which is the site of one of my favorite Pokemon Go Gyms.

One Thousand Ninety-Five

April 3, 2020
7.97 Miles in 1:18:22
Mood: Surprise run through a panda preserve!
Soundtrack: Nada Surf "Never Not Together"

I was working from home when my boss told me that we needed to avoid overtime now, and because I had been so busy, I was way past my 40 hours for the week already. I cut out early, because I was told to do so, and since I had skipped my morning run, I figured that I may as well do an afternoon run instead.

Running in the afternoon is lovely, because it's much less cold at 4:00 PM in early April than it is at 6:30 AM in early April. I didn't even need a hoodie, I just ran in a running shirt! It was glorious. Plus, while on this run, I discovered a panda preserve in Littleton, as seen by the photograpical evidence seen above. These are heady times we are living in!

One Thousand Ninety-Four

April 1, 2020
9.63 Miles in 1:32:35
Mood: Strong like bull, and ready to be barked at.
Soundtrack: Everclear "So Much For The Afterglow"

I left the house just as the bright sunrise colors were beginning to dissipate. I managed to get a picture from my deck right before I started, and since I was planning on running at Southglenn, I knew that I would use it for today's post. Freed from having to take a photo, I instead went hard. I barely stopped running at all, and just kept circling Southglenn. I felt really good and ended up going nearly ten miles at a decent pace and just kept moving and feeling great. I did have a tiny dog bark at me several times, much to the embarrassment of her owner, who apologized profusely for her six pound dog violently threatening me with her bark. I was mostly amused, and felt bad for the woman who felt bad about her dog. She need not have apologized, as I was enjoying the ferocity of the tiny animal quite a bit.

One Thousand Ninety-Three

March 30, 2020
7.58 Miles in 1:19:49
Mood: Birds got me feeling okay!
Soundtrack: Bird noises

So I forgot to grab my earbuds before I hit the road on this run, and even though I realized it super close to home, I decided to go music free on this one. I'm glad I did, because spring is alive and the birds are going nuts. It was fun to listen to all their noises, be it their squawking, their lovely songs, their hoots, or the many many woodpeckers going to town on banging their beaks into the trees, they were super noisy on this Monday in late March. Today's photo is of a bird that I didn't even hear making noise, but he was in the same tree as a woodpecker, and I looked up to see the woodpecker and was surprised by this beautiful hawk. I really was super enjoying the birds this time out, so it only made sense to post a picture of a bird in celebration. Yay birds!

One Thousand Ninety-Two

April 29, 2020
8.37 Miles in 1:23:40
Mood: Social distancing myself, as I usually do on a run even before it was cool.
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Blurryface"

Every playground I pass has yellow caution tape around all the equipment. This makes sense, as the health department doesn't want people gathering and spreading Covid-19, and playground are basically designed to make people gather, but it's kind of a sad marker of the times. I look forward to when the tape can come down and children can gather and play together. I'm getting tired of this virus nonsense.

One Thousand Ninety-One

March 26, 2020
8.53 Miles in 1:26:29
Mood: Thankful for goats.
Soundtrack: Passenger "All the Little Lights" and Pearl Jam "Ten" and Peter Mulvey "Letters From a Flying Machine"

The world may be all messed up and strange, but at least there is a yellow goat on this rock. So not all is lost.