The Fat Man Runneth Again

For the first time since we moved to Salem--excluding the four days of "training" before Hood-to-Coast--I ran on a weekday. In Beaverton I ran in the mornings before work, but getting up at 4:15 a.m. just doesn't appeal to me. We have showers and lockers in the building, but I've just been too lazy to bring my gear in. My reward has been that I feel more languid, I tire more easily, and my weight has neared 180 pounds (post-mission starting point). Running on Saturdays for an hour while pushing Edward just makes me a weekend warrior, something I never thought I would become. Something had to change.

So to celebrate the return of warm temperatures in the valley, I slipped into my running shoes at mid-day and pounded the pavement (and grass) of downtown Portland. I recall when living in Beaverton as a single guy, I once drove into Washington Park on a Saturday morning and ran for an hour or so through the quiet streets of downtown--I always thought it cool to run in the heart of the city (our first house in Salem was within running distance of downtown, and I always loved running there on Saturdays). I ran about four or five miles in just under 40 minutes. It tired me out and caused more pain that it should, so my goal for the next month is to erase these problems while training at such an easy pace. Then I can gradually move on to increasing my speed and endurance to a point that makes running Hood-to-Coast easy (relative to this year).