Far, a long, long way to run

What a good day.  The weather is good (clear blue sky, temps in the 50's), I went for a nice jog, I therefore had a guilt free lunch, and I'm meeting friends for Oktuberfest* tonight.

I did the jogging a little differently this time.  Instead of running for several miles straight and then walking the rest of the way, I ran for a while, walked for a while, ran for a while.  I'd move down to a walk whenever something felt a little owie, such as a knee or a foot.  I'd wait for it to feel better, give it another minute, then move back up to a gentle jog.* In this way I was able to continue jogging all the way around the park.  Toward then end it got to be more of an effort, and I was more likely to walk on the longer inclines, but I definitely jogged more than I walked.  I think it was about a 2:1 ratio, but it might have been higher.

It made me so happy.  I love the feeling of trail running.  It lets me see the trail from a different perspective, and it holds my focus in a way that walking no longer does.  Jogging like that is extremely meditative for me.  The landscape flows by and I feel a deep peace.***  For a good hour of my jog I simply felt grateful that something free and easy to do is something I love so much.  If the trail were a person I'd have invited it out for lunch afterward so that I could spend more time with it.  Instead I bid it a fond farewell at the parking lot.

I didn't listen to any music today, for no obvious reason.  I had music with me.  I just never bothered to get out the earphones and start listening.  Instead I listened to the crunch of leaves under my feet, and had thoughts.  I can't tell you what they are because I no longer remember.  I had them and then I let them go.  Which is a pity, because I'm pretty sure I came up with some good ideas for Christmas gifts for people, and also for a Christmas wish list for myself.****

Afterward I stopped by Five Guys for a burger loaded with veggies and a ludicrously large serving of fries.  Five Guys does not understand the concept of "small".  I had to rip open the bag to get past the fries to my burger, which was hidden at the bottom.*****  I didn't attempt to eat everything.  I just wanted some salty fried potato goodness.  Not several actual potatoes worth.

There have only been two flaws (so far) in an otherwise perfect day.  One, I woke up with a hangover.******  A few aspirin fixed that.  The other flaw was that I didn't get a nap.  I planned for a nap.  I scheduled time for it.  But then I had a little coke with my burger.%  It doesn't take much caffeine to make napping impossible for me.  Perhaps tomorrow afternoon.

Last but not least, I have poison ivy again.  I didn't mention it last weekend, but on Saturday we had to scramble over some downed trees blocking the trail.  One of them had a furry vine on it.  I said to Delee "I hope that's not poison ivy, or I'm going to get the world's worst case."  The tree was at the height where I basically had to balance my full weight on it.  I couldn't just step over.  And sure enough, I now have poison ivy on my heinie.  Not a lot, so far.  I fear how far it will spread, as pretty much all of my personal fun bits were in contact with the tree (through pants, but nonetheless..)  This is neither the first nor the last time I'll have hike-related poison ivy, I'm sure.




*Annual gathering involving tuber-related comestibles.  Ginger ale, latke, root vegetable casserole.  It's all fair if it involves a tuber.  JD made a lemon-ginger cheesecake to bring with us.

**I'm not actually capable of much more than a gentle jog.  Yet.

***Unlike my beloved, who feels aggravation at having to exercise.

****There isn't that much that I want in the material sense anymore.  Even less that I want that people could buy for me.  You can't really buy jogging shoes for somebody else, for instance.  How would you know if they fit?

*****This is the smallest size fries they sell

******Totally worth it.

%It mixed with the Crystal Lite grape flavor drink I had first, so I had grape flavored coke.  Pretty good actually.%%

%%Are different footnote markers easier to read, rather than longer and longer lines of asterisks?  Do I maybe have too many footnotes?  I just tangent so easily.