Friday, July 30, 2021

Thirteen Hundred Thirteen

 


July 29, 2021
7.22 Miles in 1:16:16
Mood: Hooray for fluffy plants!
Soundtrack: Barenaked Ladies "Maroon"

I took this picture because the foliage on that tree/bush in the middle with the reddish color was impossibly fluffy. I'm not sure it shows up in this picture, but it looked like something from the Willy Wonka factory. It had a cotton candy look to it and I really liked how it looked. No idea what kind of plant it is, but on fluffiness alone, it's a winner in my book.





Thirteen Hundred Twelve

 


July 27, 2021
7.41 Miles in 1:16:22
Mood: What IS this place?
Soundtrack: Blitzen Trapper "Furr"

I saw the sign for this business, and I was legitimately confused. The color scheme mixed with the number 45 had me thinking it could potentially be a place that sold Donald Trump memorabilia, but then I thought it was unlikely that a business could be opening right now with that business model, and what in heavens name would the "F" stand for, as F combined with 45 seems more like an anti-Trump store, but that also seemed unlikely. I walked to the window and looked in and was sorta disappointed to learn that it was basically a Cross-Fit gym. That was way less interesting than the wild ideas I had in my head. 





Monday, July 26, 2021

Thirteen Hundred Eleven

 


July 25, 2021
5.56 Miles in 59:32
Mood: HOT!
Soundtrack: TBTL and The Nateland Podcast

The day before this run, I did my "Walkabout" which was a 30 mile walk from my house to the Denver Zoo and back. That walk took almost all day and was pretty exhausting, so rather than get up super early on Sunday morning, I slept in and then decided I'd go later in the day. A dinner invite to a friends house meant that if I wanted to get my miles in (which I had to do if I am going to get to 100 miles this month), I'd have to go in the afternoon.

So at 3:15 in the afternoon, I left the house and started running in 91 degree heat. It was honestly kind of miserable and a few miles in I got a low blood sugar which required me to purchase several items to try and drink/eat to raise. I was hot, sweaty, and waiting for sugar to replenish my strength and was only two and a half miles into my run when I had already been out for well over an hour. I was pretty annoyed, but eventually the sugar went up and some clouds moved in, and the final few miles felt decent. I only got to five and a half miles, but it was enough to keep me in the hunt for a 100 mile July. 

Today's photo comes from a home that I couldn't believe didn't also have a Trump flag. There was an American flag, one of those goofy dark american flags with a bunch of colors on it to represent police and armed service branches, there was a Marines flag, and a flag with a machine gun on it that menacingly said, "Come And Take It!" I also felt that the unmarked police car or perhaps former police car in the driveway completed the look. I wouldn't advise anyone try breaking into this guys house, but I also am not going to try and make friends with this guy.





Thirteen Hundred Ten

 


July 23, 2021
7.43 Miles in 1:18:10
Mood: That's a good trick!
Soundtrack: Ben Folds Five "Whatever and Ever Amen"

This guy is a genius. Clearly, he doesn't want to maintain his lawn, but to keep people from complaining about it looking crappy, he put up a sign to make it look like his neglect is actually him conducting legitimate science. So much work being done by posting a little sign describing what is happening as nature reclaims his front yard.





Thirteen Hundred Nine

 


July 21, 2021
7.42 Miles in 1:18:39
Mood: Southglenn was hopping for a change.
Soundtrack: Lupe Fiasco "Lasers" and "Food & Liquor" and "The Cool"

For as much as I run around Southglenn, I often have a very hard time finding something interesting to take a picture of for that run. That was not an issue on this run, as for once THINGS WERE HAPPENING!

The first thing that I thought was going to be the picture of the day had to do with a crew of about six guys who were manning what I would classify as a mulch cannon. One guy had a giant tube around his shoulders that shot out mulch at a rate that could only be called way too fast. It was shooting the mulch out with a thrust that would have shot it one hundred feet into the air if it was pointed up rather than straight down to the ground. The impact of the mulch hitting the planters on the ground was causing huge clouds of dust to arise, and the other five guys were manning leaf blowers to corral all the mulch that got loose because if they didn't do that, it would have left a colossal mess. It was very interesting to watch, and it would have been the photo for the day....

BUT!

I also came across these ladies nearer to the end of my run, and they were in the process of creating a new art installation on the wall of the mall. This is the blue flower mural that is now finished as it was being painted, and I rather like it!

Cool morning with so much happening!





Thirteen Hundred Eight

 


July 19, 2021
7.59 Miles in 1:19:59
Mood: Bird statue, bird actual.
Soundtrack: Actually hearing myself say "Good Morning" to people

I couldn't find my earbuds as I was leaving the house this particular morning, so rather than listening to music or a podcast, I instead was just listening to the world around me. I say "Hi" to people rather regularly as I pass them on trails, but usually I can't hear myself. Today, I definitely heard my own voice, and it felt a little weird.

Today's photo comes from the pond at Alspaugh Park where there is a statue of a crane sitting on a little rock. I really thought it was cool that in addition to the art, there was a real life crane just a few feet away on this morning. It was definitely the highlight of my morning run.




Thirteen Hundred Seven

 


July 17, 2021
7.71 Miles in 1:17:03
Mood: Weird tree.
Soundtrack: Jack White "Blunderbuss"

I had the serious thought that this was a seriously weird looking tree, and then I laughed at myself as I realized that it was just a streetlamp in disguise. It does have a Narnia vibe to it, though. Either way, it's better than a regular streetlamp. It also is on the corner of a house that has a giant peace sign on it, which might explain why they are hiding the lamp so much.





Thirteen Hundred Six

 


July 15, 2021
7.80 Miles in 1:21:35
Mood: Yay for professional gardeners!
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Scaled and Icy"

Did a couple of laps around Southglenn before abandoning that for the Highline Canal for a bit. Not much to report about this one other than the flowers at Southglenn sure are swell. Seriously, big props to the gardeners at Southglenn who put in WORK to make it look so nice during the summer.






Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Thirteen Hundred Five

 


July 13, 2021
7.71 Miles in 1:19:26
Mood: Time to buckle down.
Soundtrack: Dr. Dog "Fate"

It's getting serious time. If I am going to hit 100 miles for July, I'm going to have to go hard the final few weeks. After this run I'm at 35 miles for the month, which is behind the pace I need, but not so far that I can't make it. I just have to not miss my regularly scheduled runs, and I've got to get in full mileage every time in order to do it. It won't be easy, but it'll be easier than starting a new 23 mile streak next month, here is to making it to 24 straight miles! Let's do this thing!

Also, how cool does the sun look peaking through those clouds as I started out on this run?!?!





Thirteen Hundred Four

 


July 11, 2021
7.47 Miles in 1:14:51
Mood: America!
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "Emotionalism"

I spent most of my Sunday morning run at Wash Park, but diverted a few times into neighborhoods both for Pokemon Go reasons as well as to see if I could find something good to take a picture of. I was not let down! These two skeletons decked out in Patriotic gear look like they were so blown away by the quality of the neighborhood fireworks that it literally killed them. I kind of love this, and it was on a street that was far enough away that I had never been down it before, but was richly rewarded for doing so!





Thirteen Hundred Three

 


July 9, 2021
7.65 Miles in 1:21:24
Mood: We meet again, my old nemesis. 
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "The Third Gleam"

This is it. This is the crack in the sidewalk that tripped me up and caused my ribs to hurt for a couple of weeks. Honestly, it was a more substantial crack than I was expecting, but without question, this is where I fell on the final day of June. This was the first time I had run at Southglenn since that day, and I made a point both to search out this crack, and then to cautiously avoid it every time I passed it by. I picked up my feet extra tall every time I hit this one section of the sidewalk, as I'm sure I'll fall again, but I'm going to do my best to make sure I never fall HERE again.





Thirteen Hundred Two

 


July 7, 2021
7.06 Miles in 1:12:07
Mood: A new sport? Sure, why not?
Soundtrack: Trampled by Turtles "Midnight on the Interstate"

I learned something on this run. They make four way volleyball nets. At first I thought I was seeing things, or that perhaps my eyes were just off, but that volleyball net definitely branches out to create four playing areas. I confirmed that this product exists on Amazon, although I didn't research it enough to learn how in the world one would play four way volleyball. Seems like the kind of thing that shouldn't exist, and yet does for some reason.





Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Thirteen Hundred One

 


July 4, 2021
5.18 Miles in 53:11
Mood: I'm trying!
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Trench"

After falling hard on Wednesday, I waited until Sunday to get back at it hoping that would be enough time to heal up. I felt mostly okay, but my sore rib was definitely giving me a little trouble. Still, I pushed to try and make the best of it, and had to call it at day at five miles as I had to get back home to go to church and couldn't get in two more miles without being impossibly late. Still, I felt good when I was done, and hope to get back at a regular schedule soon, hopefully with more miles as well.





Thirteen Hundred

 


June 30, 2021
7.12 Miles in 1:14:55
Mood: Ouch
Soundtrack: TBTL

I have been doing so well at NOT falling down while running. I think I had made it since before the pandemic began without taking a spill. That all ended on the last lap of this run. I had already hit seven miles, and was just going to finish up and head home when I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk just in front of the Hollywood Theater at Southglenn and fell with a thud. I didn't scrape much skin, but this was still one of the more painful falls I've ever had because my left shoulder that I've been working through a situation called "frozen shoulder" exploded in pain when I hit the ground and a rib on my right side took a pounding from which I'm still hurting from nearly a week later as I write this. 

In fact, this was going to be a celebration of making my 23rd straight 100 mile month, but it has turned into an injury that puts that streak in jeopardy for a 24th month. We'll see if I can pull myself together in July. But it's the 6th and I've only run five miles thus far. Hopefully I can finish strong and get myself to the two year mark! We'll see!