Saturday Morning Trail Tribulations

Dear Plano Soccer Moms,

The city engineer planned a 6-ft wide multi-purpose trail for many reasons.  None of which were for you to have a place to put your camp chairs while you watch your kids play!  When you sit there, you block the throughway and create potentially dangerous situations for the actual trail users.  Nevermind the fact that it puts you at least 15 feet away from the sideline!  Now I realize that placing your chair in the grass means your shoes might get wet walking to your seat or that your high-heeled sandals may sink into the dirt...but isn't that worth showing support for your kids?  So scoot forward, and getting the heck out of our way!

Thank you,

Frustrated Plano Runner

Today's stats:

• 0.58mi walk
• 4.01mi run; 0:50:54 min; 12:42min/mi

Some Days It's Just Easier...

...and today was one of those days!  I started out at a faster-than-normal-pace during my warm-up walk, then transitioned into an even, easy, pace during my run intervals.  I checked my watch and had done a mile, then two, before I knew it - and in record time!  The third mile required a little more effort, but I still finished strong, and ended up with an awesome average pace (for me)!

 Today's stats:

• 0.58mi walk
• 3.0mi run; 0:37:27 min; 12:29 min/mi

Eat-and-Run

My co-workers and I were looking for a way to get out of the office at lunch, without the inevitability of spending money if we went to the mall, Target, etc.  The solution was right in front of our noses - er, feet!  We decided that, starting today, we'd bring walking shoes & clothes, and take a few spins around our office park's short walking trail after eating our brown bag lunches.  We won't be able to do it every day, but it was so enjoyable that we'll definitely do it often!

Today's stats:

• 1.8mi walk
• 2.0mi run; 0:26:07min; 13:03min/mi

Horse Apples!

No, it's not just something that your 90-yr-old grandfather says...they're a real thing!  Actually, they're the fruit of the Bois'd'Arc tree, a north Texas native, they look like green, lumpy/knobby grapefruit, and they practically cover the ground this time of year!  Especially on/around the trails I like to take - where they fall from the many trees lining the creek.  As I jog past, I remember the old M*A*S*H episodes where Colonel Potter yells "Horse Apples" in response to Hawkeye and B.J.'s antics, and it makes me smile...

Today I had to walk past them, and felt just as frustrated as poor Colonel Potter.  I put a kink in my own plans of moving all my runs this week up by a day in order to free up my Saturday morning.  Foiled by a low (then dead) battery on my Garmin...and since I live & die by my Garmin on my training runs, I walked a short loop (1.6 miles) and finished early.  So I'll do my normal Tuesday run tomorrow, will do Thursday's run on Wednesday and Saturday's run on Friday.  Sounds like a plan!