Thirteen Hundred Forty-One

 

September 28, 2021

7.26 Miles in 1:17:18

Mood: Afternoon runs and red leaves
Soundtrack: TBTL

I couldn't run in the morning, because I had traffic court to attend, so after that was over, I took my brother to the airport, and came home to squeeze in a quick seven miles of the afternoon on a day off. The weather was cool and it even briefly rained on me, but it felt nice, and there were lots of red leaves like the ones seen above. I still prefer a morning run, but if you're going to do it in the afternoon, this was a perfect day to do so. Also, those leaves look awesome!

Thirteen Hundred Forty

 

September 26, 2021

7.44 Miles in 1:15:40

Mood: Hanging with my brother!
Soundtrack: Barenaked Ladies - "Barenaked Ladies are Me"

My brother was in town, and he went with me to Wash Park, although he didn't really run with me as he hasn't been running much lately and couldn't run for too long. So I knew he was around, and saw him a few times as I was running, but I wouldn't say he ran with me. He jogged a tiny bit and walked around a lot, and it was a nice September morning so it was pleasant. 

At one point he sprinted past me for about 20 seconds, and it caused his heart to palpitate so rapidly that his smart watch sent a message to his emergency contact that he might be experiencing a cardiac event. He was fine, and we both thought that was hilarious.

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Nine

 

September 24, 2021

7.15 Miles in 1:14:35

Mood: COW!

Soundtrack: Cold War Kids "New Age Norms 3"

If you can take a barrel, a bucket and some sticks and make a cow. You absolutely have to do it.

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Eight

 

September 22, 2021

7.09 Miles in 1:15:14

Mood: Be here now!
Soundtrack: Vaudeville Etiquette "Debutantes & Dealers"

If you look at those trees, you can see it. Fall is arriving. This technically was the first day of fall, but the cool morning temps and those trees just starting to turn red confirms it. Autumn is in the air, and I am here for it. The only down side to autumn is that it leads to winter, but there's no reason to hate a thing just because it really sucks when it ends. Let's just enjoy the season and try not to think to hard about what comes next. 

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Seven

 

September 20, 2021

7.05 Miles in 1:16:55

Mood: Grogu is the man.
Soundtrack: The Bill Simmons Podcast

There was a tiny chalk art festival at Southglenn over the weekend. Despite there only being about 20 or fewer entries that I could see as I circled the streets on Monday morning, this was by far my favorite. Baby Yoda for the win!

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Six

 

September 18, 2021

7.08 Miles in 1:14:24

Mood: A hot weekend run during a "hot" birthday weekend! (Hot still means good, right?)
Soundtrack: Phoebe Bridgers "Punisher"

It was my son's 14th birthday, and between his football game in the morning and getting ready to take his buddies to Meow Wolf that night, I had to get in seven miles somewhere, so I did so in the early afternoon of a hot Saturday. It was a pretty good run, although I needed a cold shower to cool off afterwards, but the skies were blue, and the trail was open, and I got it done! This was actually one of the more fun Saturdays I've had in a long time, even though I spent two and a half hours doing work right during the middle of it. Luke's flag football games and Meow Wolf are both excellent ways to spend the weekend!

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Five

 

September 16, 2021

7.15 Miles in 1:18:15

Mood: R.I.P. Norm McDonald
Soundtrack: Norm McDonald "Me Doing Standup" and "Ridiculous"

Norm McDonald had just died of cancer, so I pulled up the two comedy albums available for him on Spotify to listen to him. The first is pretty good although it oddly begins with Norm talking about death by cancer and wanting to stay alive...odd to hear when you're listening to it because he's just died of cancer. The second one, named "Ridiculous" is actively terrible. Norm was VERY funny, but this sketch comedy drivel is just bad. Like, really really bad. It has some comedy that has aged terribly and is just actively cringe. Made for a strange morning of running around Southglenn, to be sure. But I will miss Norm McDonald, a genuinely hilarious person. 

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Four

 

September 14, 2021

7.57 Miles in 1:21:33

Mood: Breathing clean air!
Soundtrack: The Wallflowers "Bringing Down The Horse"

After a summer where the air quality has been just off the charts bad thanks to western wildfires, being able to see the clouds and the mountains so clearly was amazingly refreshing. I stopped to take this picture just because of how pretty the scene before me was. I didn't have a choice!

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Three

 

September 12, 2021

7.27 Miles in 1:16:45

Mood: Positive vibes on a Sunday morning.
Soundtrack: John Prine "John Prine" and "Diamonds in The Rough" and "Sweet Revenge"

It was NFL opening Sunday, and it was a cool but comfy morning at Wash Park, and I was listening to John Prine who I heard called "The Mark Twain of songwriting" that morning on the radio, which is a pretty description of the man. Sadly he died of COVID early last year, but his music remains pretty awesome. Also...here is a pink flower! 

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-Two

 

September 9, 2021

7.24 Miles in 1:17:25

Mood: Weird baby heads!
Soundtrack: Earbud free sounds of the world

Why does this home have two giant baby heads in it's window? I don't know, but it was enough for me to walk up to the porch to get a picture, because it was easily the weirdest thing I saw on this run and needed to be captured for posterity. My right earbud also didn't charge overnight, so they wouldn't connect to my phone which meant I had my earbuds in my pocket all run and was forced to say hello to people as I passed and actually hear if they reply or not. (Many do, many don't, for the record.)

Thirteen Hundred Thirty-One

 

September 7, 2021

7.20 Miles in 1:17:18

Mood: September is so good!
Soundtrack: The Bill Simmons Podcast

The weather was just about perfect, and I was listening to a sports podcast about football, which means that it must be the best month of the year! September! Getting info about the upcoming football season while getting to enjoy the best weather of the year makes me wish that it was always September. It's definitely the best month.

Thirteen Hundred Thirty

 

September 4, 2021

6.29 Miles in 1:06:14

Mood: Hot and bothered is no way to be on a run.
Soundtrack: TBTL

I slept in because it was a Saturday, and then left much too late in the morning (It was almost noon) and it was HOT and that heat caused me to have low blood sugar, and yuck. I felt awful and ended up walking home a good portion of the final way because I just couldn't keep running in those conditions. Early morning is way better for runs, especially when it's monstrously hot outside. 

Today's photo came relatively early on in the run when I was still running, and it's of this helmet that sits atop a stick that is helping hold up this tree, and I don't know why it's there, and I find the whole thing to be very weird. 

Thirteen Hundred Twenty-Nine

 

September 1, 2021

7.06 Miles in 1:15:08

Mood: I'm still chuckling at this one. 
Soundtrack: Dawes "Nothing is Wrong"

Not going to lie. "Honk if you like peace and quiet" made me chuckle pretty good. I had to stop and take a picture, because I was not going to find anything better on this run for the blog. Well played, Randy.

Thirteen Hundred Twenty-Eight

 

August 30, 2021

7.41 Miles in 1:19:44

Mood: Pushing North on a new route for the fun of it.
Soundtrack: Bo Burnham "Inside"

I had a destination in mind for this run. The Marjory Perry Nature Reserve was my goal. It's a little wetland along the Highline Canal right around the 32 mile marker of the trail. The closest mile marker to my house is the 25, but thanks to the very curvy nature of the trail, I was able to go much more directly and get to my destination in about three miles because if you're ever trying to get somewhere in the shortest distance possible, the Highline Canal is NEVER the way you want to go.

I enjoyed my route which was a path I had never really taken before, and it was fun getting to places that are a little off the well beaten path of my usual routes. This was a very fun run, even though my earbud batteries died halfway through so I had to do the second half of the run with no music.

(Oh, and for those keeping track at home, which is basically no one but me. I hit 100 miles for August on this run to extend the 100 mile month streak to 25. I'm almost halfway to tying my longest streak ever of 51 months.)

Thirteen Hundred Twenty-Seven

 

August 28, 2021

7.24 Miles in 1:15:13

Mood: New art! New art! New art!
Soundtrack: Bon Iver "For Emma, Forever Ago"

I don't know if this mural on the side of Wash Park's Rec Center is finished yet or not, but I really hope that it isn't, because if it is, that's a weird place to finish. I like the bright colors, it really stood out to me as I ran by, because I am CERTAIN it wasn't there last time I ran at the park. I hope to see even more color in that big white spot next time I run by. Fingers crossed!

Thirteen Hundred Twenty-Six

 

August 26, 2021

7.56 Miles in 1:20:26

Mood: Amazing couch, less amazing bugs. 
Soundtrack: U2 "No Line on the Horizon"

How could someone just GIVE away this amazing couch? I was out on a run, but if I had been thinking, I would have just heaved it onto my back and carried it home the three miles to my house. This kind of quality furniture with no expenditure to procure is a true once in a lifetime opportunity! Okay. I didn't ACTUALLY want the couch. You got me.

I went west on this run, about as far as I can when starting from home and needing to get back for work. At one point I made it to Writer's Vista Park, and I guess I was just the right amount of stinky to attract the bugs, because I was worried for a bit that they were going to just collectively put me on their backs and fly me to their nest, it was uncomfortable just how many were swarming around me. Did not like.