Twelve Hundred Sixty

 

March 31, 2021

7.38 Miles in 1:17:52

Mood: Enjoying the yard art.

Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "Closer Than Together"

Gotta admit, I found these gendered flower pots pretty cute...even if the girl pot only has one leg and one arm. It's a good thing that there are 31 days in March, because I needed all of them to get myself to 100 miles for the month, but I did it, and now I've done it 20 months in a row. Still a ways from my record of 51, but the number keeps going up, so this is good.

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Nine

 

March 28, 2021

7.94 Miles in 1:23:47

Mood: Happily running in a new and interesting place.
Soundtrack: Dispatch "America, Location 12"

Our family decided to take a short little overnight trip to Northern Colorado for the weekend, and I got up really early so I could get a run in at a new place. I spent a lot of time in Fort Collins as a kid, but had never run here before, so I was excited to check it out by foot. The night before I picked up a pizza at a spot I would describe a place that the cool college kids hung out and ate pizza. When I walked in, I immediately felt a billion years old, I was the oldest person there by orders of magnitude. It was almost as if my bones were turning to dust like the Nazis that open the lid of the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I bring up my pizza experience to hammer home yet another thing that separated me from the youth of Colorado State...college kids do not wake up at 6AM on Sundays. I felt like I had the entire town pretty much to myself so I took advantage and checked out a large swath of a charming little college campus. Today's photo comes from their football stadium, which has a cool statue of two Rams locking horns, which is a cool image, but perhaps a bad symbol of team unity. Based on the success of Rams football...I might be correct. The football stadium is quaint. I liked it, but it sure seemed small. I would love to go to a game sometime, perhaps I will someday.

I also ran through downtown Fort Collins, which has some cool art and some neat old buildings. There is a lot of charm in the whole town. I finished up running on the Poudre Trail which runs right along the Cache de Poudre River. It's always fun to run in a new place, but especially fun when you get so many diverse and interesting experiences as you run. I give this run five stars!

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Eight

 

March 25, 2021

8.04 Miles in 1:25:14

Mood: Pink clouds and a good run
Soundtrack: Weezer "OK Human"

It felt like it had been awhile since I did a lot of Highline miles, and I was in a mood to get some. I took a photo right at the beginning of the run of some pink clouds, and then it was pretty much all business. I decided to make it an eight mile run to reduce how far I'd have to run on my next few runs to hit 100 miles for the month, and they were a solid eight miles. Felt good.

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Seven

 

March 23, 2021

7.67 Miles in 1:22:55

Mood: Enjoying the light
Soundtrack: Dispatch "America, Location 12"

There was a tiny bit of concern in me that I'd not feel well enough after getting a vaccine shot to be able to get my Tuesday morning run in, but apart from a sore arm, I felt pretty good and ready to go when my alarm went off. My pace wasn't anything special, but I managed to get in a respectable number of miles and also see a big portion of fence that someone turned into a Colorado flag in their backyard, as seen above. Not sure why they did it, but as always with weird things people do to their houses, I approve. Also, you can see from the photo how warm and rich the light from the morning sun was, which felt good and made the world look cool.

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Six

 

March 20, 2021

7.34 Miles in 1:14:52

Mood: Ready for the needle.
Soundtrack: Bright Eyes "Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was"

I felt positive and excited as I began this run, as I knew it'd be the last one I'd take without any Covid-19 Vaccine in my system. The night before I was able to schedule my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine for Monday morning, and I felt very good about doing my part to try and finally get this pandemic over. It's weird to be that excited to get a shot, but I had a bounce in my step that could not be denied. 

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Five

 

March 18, 2021

7.68 Miles in 1:22:25

Mood: Ready for the monster to die.
Soundtrack: Everclear "Songs From An American Movie"

This pile of snow made me do a double take as I ran past. I don't think anyone created it other than random chance, but it has two eyes, a mouth, and two little hands that are up in the air as if they are screaming in protest of the melting that is to come. It totally looks like a snow monster, and I dug it. Also, it's been like four or five days since all this snow fell, and it still has a lot of melting to do, and that can happen as soon as possible if it were up to me...even if it means the end of my snow monster. 

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Four

March 16, 2021

7.24 Miles in 1:14:01

Mood: Blessed be the snowclearers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Soundtrack: Portugal. The Man "Woodstock"

I skipped out on running on Monday because over two feet of snow had fallen the day before, and there was snow piled up everywhere which made it had to try and walk, much less run. I also didn't get up early to run on Tuesday, but when I looked outside, it seemed like there might be a chance that the snow clearing folk of the world had done enough of their wonderful work to make running possible. I decided to take a long lunch and try my luck at Southglenn for the second straight run. Turns out that, at least at Southglenn, things were perfectly cleared for a run. I was running on totally dry pavement. It was a miracle. The photo above is where they must have shoved almost all of the snow that fell of Southglenn, as it was a massive pile. That stack of snow was at least nine feet tall if not higher. It may not melt until July.

 

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Three

 

March 13, 2021

7.16 Miles in 1:18:44

Mood: I don't like snow, and am barely capable of operating my own phone.
Soundtrack: Whatever sounds rain and snow make.

The weather forecasters were predicting a massive snowstorm. (Which eventually started Saturday night and left us with the fourth largest snowfall in recorded Denver history.) Snow was going to start falling on Saturday, but it was pretty meager, and I decided I needed to get some miles in before we were buried in feet of the white stuff. 

Today's photo is of a cool textured wall on the side of one of the Southglenn buildings and also the gray skies out of which a nasty mix of cold rain and a few snowflakes were falling. It wasn't super cold, but I did get rather wet.

I didn't want to be far from home in case the snow hit fast and hard, so I just ran around in circles at Southglenn waiting for a massive snow that never fell. After a little over four and a half miles, Jen called and asked me to go to the grocery store to buy a few things, and she hung up on me, but I pressed the button to end my run on the Nike Running App thinking somehow that I was hanging up on her. Snow freezes my brain, I guess. So anyway, that is why there are two maps below, as this run got divided into two sections...the first being me running at Southglenn, the second being me running to the grocery store and then back home. (Also, a few runs ago the map function didn't work, but apparently that was a one off thing instead of a change Nike implemented. And I am thankful for that!)

Twelve Hundred Fifty-Two

 

March 11, 2021

10.13 Miles in 1:42:41

Mood: Let's run forever!
Soundtrack: AJR "Neotheater"

I had the day off work, so I decided that not only could I head to Wash Park, I could also do a really long run. I early on decided that I'd do four laps of the park, and the first three went great, but by the time I was halfway through the final lap, I was definitely struggling. I finished, though, and with a decent pace to boot! I was quite proud heading home on this one. Plus I learned that the secret to happiness is recycling, which feels off, but if it's posted on a giant metal container, it must be true.

Twelve Hundred Fifty-One

 

March 9, 2021

7.53 Miles in 1:17:10

Mood: Why on a tree?
Soundtrack: Better Oblivion Community Center "Better Oblivion Community Center"

Someone found a dapper baby's hat and hung it on a tree. That is my best guess as to what happened here.

Twelve Hundred Fifty

 

March 6, 2021

7.44 Miles in 1:12:54

Mood: Why do apps always have to change so much?
Soundtrack: Mumford & Sons "Delta"

First off, the Nike Run Club app has apparently eliminated maps, which makes me sad. I like posting my map, so hopefully they'll bring it back. 

Secondly, I love this visual joke. The ice is very thin.

Thirdly, it was a lovely run around Wash Park on a Saturday. 

Twelve Hundred Forty-Nine

 

March 4, 2021

7.31 Miles in 1:18:21

Mood: Pandemic fatigue is upon us all.
Soundtrack: Street noises

Either this snail has faded out in the sun or else he is going blind. Either way, it makes me sad, as having a big snail in your front yard is definitely the kind of thing I'm in favor of, and it's a bit less fun to have a blind snail than a snail with excellent eyesight...Even though I'm not sure why. 

This run took me to several places that I miss from normal life like my church's building and a movie theater. Pandemic life hasn't been that bad, but it definitely is a step down from being able to congregate with others for worship services or the latest Tom Hanks film. I think everyone is sick of masks and having to keep our distance from friends, and I keep hoping (and believing) that things are going to get back to closer to normal really soon. Can't happen soon enough for my liking.

Twelve Hundred Forty-Eight

 

March 2, 2021

7.56 Miles in 1:18:22

Mood: How'd those get there?
Soundtrack: Ben Folds Five "The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind" and TBTL

I'm pretty sure those balloons were not intended to be in the trees. Which makes me wonder how they got away from the person who purchased them, and then ended up in a little tree on the bank of a little stream. I like to think that someone gave them to a kid to hold on to, and that kid in a moment of rebellious joy let go of the balloons and happily watched as they rose into the sky while the adult who just spend 15 or 20 dollars on them did not share the joy. Probably not what happened, but I have an active imagination. 

Twelve Hundred Forty-Seven

 

February 28, 2021

7.06 Miles in 1:10:02

Mood: Just me and my brother, feeling good!
Soundtrack: Passenger "All The Little Lights"

This was sort of a run with my brother. He hasn't been running much at all in the past year, so he told me that I'd probably be leaving him in the dust at Wash Park. He then took off about 45 seconds before I was ready, so I started by trying to chase him down. I felt REALLY good while chasing him, and that led me to go three and a half miles without stopping even once. Then I took a break or two, but finished the seven miles feeling really good. It was the total opposite of Friday's run which felt terrible, this one was amazing, and I even did it averaging under 10 minutes a mile. 

Not only did it feel good for me, my brother mentioned that it was really encouraging for him too, so we drove back to my house both feeling quite good about the world on a beautiful Sunday morning. It wasn't super chilly on this run, but the lake is still quite frozen.

Twelve Hundred Forty-Six

 

February 26, 2021

6.00 Miles in 1:03:58

Mood: Ugly building for an ugly run.
Soundtrack: TBTL

This store is weird. Almost all of Southglenn is earthy toned and feels nice and warm, but then there is the death star that is Z Gallerie. It's the only black facade of the entire complex, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm not sure why they want their store to be black, or why The Streets at Southglenn allowed it, but it does not work well with the rest of the place.

As for this run, I decided to stay close to home. I did so because there was a ton of snow and ice leftover from a massive storm that hit on Wednesday night, and I wasn't sure how clear the roads would be. I also made the unfortunate decision to wear long underwear and an extra sweatshirt because it was 17 degrees when I left. However, almost immediately the sun came out and the temps rose. I ended up feeling super hot and bulky and then got a low blood sugar, and I felt slow the whole time. Plus, I knew my brother was back at my house, as he was visiting for the weekend. I did not enjoy this run much, but I plowed through so that I'd have enough miles to get to 100 for the month. Glad I did it, but it was not the best run of the month. I decided to call it when I got to 6 miles because running with a low blood sugar is miserable, and I had done enough that I didn't need to push myself anymore.

Twelve Hundred Forty-Five

 

February 24, 2021

7.22 Miles in 1:16:07

Mood: All the pretty colors!
Soundtrack: Barenaked Ladies "Barenaked Ladies are Men"

There is a fence along the Highline Canal trail with murals all over it. This is a close up of what is probably my favorite of them all. I just dig all the colors. It was the best thing I saw on this run, which was a very nice trip on the section of the Highline I like to call "The Hook" 

I also saw for the first time a Poke Gym I which was created due to my submission for the first time on this run, which is very cool!