Day 3

June 10th, 2014

I was not able to get up as early as I had hoped, so I slept in until 6 o'lock. I suppose my body needed that extra hour this morning. Surprisingly, my mind was alert. It was looking forward to seeing the morning sun. I was ready to walk out the door before putting on my running gear. The air was a bit chillier. There were more than a few cars commuting early on the road.

My one rule of running is never to run on the sidewalk. From my apartment to the trail entrance is about 0.4 mile. I use that sidewalk distance as my warmup and cool down periods.

The trail was fairly empty today. Perhaps because it was either too early or too late for some dedicated runners. I was a little apprehensive running certain stretches without seeing a single soul. There are individuals that live on that trail in their cardboard boxes and fully loaded shopping carts. I haven't seen them that early yet, but still, I was afraid. Afraid of what, I really don't know. It's not like they would arise from their sleep and throw me in the murky creek because they know I can't swim. Because drowning me was something they want to do.

My body didn't feel as good as Sunday. I was slower. The same tall blond woman, running with her feet pronated inward passed me again. I wonder if she's a long distance runner. She has a short stride and moves at a consistent pace. Probably 8 minute mile. I thought maybe one day, we might talk to one another, even if it's just a hello.

One thing I notice about running is that when you meet your fellow runners on the trail, you don't really greet them. I tried to shoot a smile their way but I got only a couple back. This makes me miss my morning rides where people seem much nicer. When I am on the bike, I often say hi to riders as well as walkers and we exchange friendly smiles. That action of recognizing the other being with a smile doesn't seem to exist in running. Even passing someone on the left remains silent in running. Is this the running culture? I wonder.

At this point in my running career, I average a 10-11 minute mile, which is not fast, but I believe I will get faster. My total mileage today was 5.3 miles. It wasn't a hard run, but my legs were tired.