Where I Run

It's hard to write about running when you haven't run in 2 days. Kind of leaves me searching for material. I suppose I could talk about the importance of rest and giving your body a break, but instead I'm just going to show you pictures of the places I run, so that when I talk about them, you know what I'm talking about.

My dear friend Flo asked me what my favorite terrain to run on was. The answer is dirt roads. Or old gravel roads that are just the right amount of packed down. But mostly dirt roads. The are the BEST terrain to run on, because they're kinder on your joints than pavement, but offer more scenery than a track.



See what I mean? This is a road by my house that I've never encountered another human being on yet. It's also a favorite place to walk the dogs becasue I can let them off their leashes to burn off steam without worrying about them chasing after the neighbor's kids. The problem with this road is that it's not nearly long enough :( It goes for about a half mile or so and then stops. It's a bummer, but I still like to encorporate it into some of my longer runs because it's so stinkin' pretty. Some more views:







If anyone out there knows of a dirt road in Hawaii that's not ridiculously hilly and that goes on for a long, long way, please let me know. If it's anywhere close to me, I'd be there all the time.

Sometimes, however, circumstances require one to run on a track, and if you must do so, the track at Camp Smith is pretty much the best you're gonna get as far as views go:



See? Pretty not bad huh? If you look closely, you can see the Arizona Memorial down there. The track is awful, no matter what, but running here sure beats the heck out of running on a track where bleachers and the parking lot are the only landscapes to gaze upon.

And then there's this:



This is Jay, myself and Little Brother in the middle of a run when we were all in Air Crew School in Pensacola, FL. Why did we stop to take a picture while we were running? Who knows! But it sure was fun. I'm sure many of my Navy friends remember without a great deal of fondness the Pensacola beach runs, but we were those crazy knuckleheads that actually went out and ran more just for the hell of it. I guess the point of this picture is: if you live near a large body of water, it's silly not to go out and run next to it. Beach trails are usually great, and running on hard sand is good for you, I hear. If you're really ambitious, you can run on the soft sand and that is one heckuva workout!

Anyway, so there's some snap shots of my little running world. I'll be back at it tomorrow with a run to talk about (and a new haircut to boot!) so I will see you then!