Monday, March 15, 2010

Rain for a Weekend Runabout

The bliss of sunny Spring-like days vanished this weekend like a lost hour of sleep. Endless rain softened the ground and melted the remaining bits of snow, except for a coating of slushy flakes that besmirched my car windshield on Saturday morning.

After a hearty $7 breakfast at the Ancient Order of Hibernians that precedes Akron's hitherto unheard-of (and still unattended) St. Patrick's Day Parade, I gob-smacked that insulting rain with an hour-long run through some virginal territory, making some last-minute choices about where to go on my journey, which resulted in a tour of one fairly unsavory street and quite a few interesting, hill-bound neighborhoods with houses perched high atop steeply sloped yards.

My tour took me toward downtown Akron before retreating back toward the ritzy West Hill neighborhoods. For the first two-thirds of the run, my pace was at a comfortable trot, keeping my strides short and fast, taking seven to eight steps for each inhale. When my timer alerted me to head back home, I started to hammer the pace up the hill past the House that Rubber Built.

All told, I ran about 19 miles last week. I hoped to get out Sunday and put me over the top of a 20-mile week, but a busy day of visiting with family and icky weather prevented my motivation from engaging. Instead, I feasted on bacon and eggs, a Polish dog, and corned beef and cabbage with a tasty new stout. But that's a story for another day.

8 comments:

C said...

Nice teaser. We'll return after the messages. Maybe.

Is there an echo in here?

The Sean said...

Sounds pleasant.

Mike Antonucci said...

Plus points for using "besmirched."

misszippy said...

Hmmm...you're not painting a pretty picture there! My Ohio folks say the weather is going to be nice this week though, so you have that to look forward to, right?

X-Country2 said...

Wow. Sounds awesome!

Ms. V. said...

hey 19! good job~

Aileen said...

...Akron has a Saint Patrick's Day parade? Wow.

the erratic epicurean said...

what's this tasty new stout you speak of?