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June 9, 2008
kittens, cranes, minarets
Su: 17mi (8:07) with friends in the hills
M: 6mi, last 2@tempo
Yesterday I went up to St Leo with some running pals. My schedule said 10 easy + 7@7:50, so I knew I had no hope of hanging with my (much faster) friends this time, but we did manage some good conversation and the hills did us all some good. About 5 miles in, it was just getting light and we could see something odd in the road up ahead - about the size of small wading birds, but with more legs and no wings. As our middle-aged eyes adjusted to the weirdness we realized that two small kittens had wandered into the (55mph, 2-lane, redneckville) road. My friend Albert insisted we take the kittens somewhere safer, so I ended up running about a mile carrying a kitten who was not pleased, to say the least. We turned off the main road onto a long private drive that ended at two McMansions, deposited the kittens into a cardboard box behind the cattle fence, and started back toward the main road. Someone made a joke about the residents possibly shooting at us for trespassing, and we turned to see both kittens following us back down the drive. Luckily we were able to outrun them, I think. I hope.
The rest of the run was uneventful. I did get my 7+ miles at 7:50-or-faster, but they didn't all come at the end; one hill in particular took the wind out of my sails both times around our loop. Still, I was happy with the overall pace this time. Near the end of the run I heard the whooping cranes I always seem to hear around the end of runs in St Leo, but this time I actually got to see them, about 7 or 8 of them just standing around in a pasture making whooping noises. Neat.
I did not get a nap yesterday, and I could feel Saturday's race and yesterday's foolishness catching up with me, so today I knew I would try to find excuses not to do 2 little measly 7:30 miles. TFB, I said to myself. You managed 2@7:30 yesterday in the middle of 17 in the hills, so you can damn well do it again today on the flat. I milked every bit of those first 4 miles, starting out at 10:05 pace and eking out an 8:55 by the 4th mile. The two hard miles were 7:34 and 7:14, and I was very glad to get it done. No hard running until track Wednesday morning, yay!
A propos of nothing but the title of this post: yesterday, during our most productive band-practice yet, we decided to name our band The Minarets.
Posted by joe positive at June 9, 2008 9:47 AM
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Comments
I want a kitten to keep me company while I run!
Posted by: Salty at June 9, 2008 3:12 PM
I can see the claw marks now. But hey, you're running again, sans drama, and that, my friend, is goos news!
Posted by: joseph wood at June 9, 2008 3:24 PM
Nice to see you running so well, Joe+
The Minarets, like atop the old Tampa Bay Hotel?
p.s. I'm pacing Akron again - I hope to see you there (just not during the race.)
Posted by: roots at June 9, 2008 11:12 PM
Not to get off running topic, but you seem just fine albeit typical FL running conditions (congrat by the way).... Any Minarets music to share online?
Posted by: mindi at June 10, 2008 10:35 PM