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.