Just in time

I had a long training run today (7.55m) and fully intended to be up at 8 to do it - hours of snooze button later and I was finally on the road by 10:40. Oh well, I guess along with losing some weight before the half marathon in August, I also need to start gaining some sleep at an earlier hour (tell me something I haven't known since I was 16). The run itself was awesome - I love the southern extension of the lake path; up until this point I had only taken it to 35th to get off to go home. This time I went down to 47th street, running through shady stands of trees, by nice little park houses and a ton of drinking fountains, and coming to a brief rest under a nice shade tree just before turning back, which awarded me a spectacular view of the lake shore and skyline from a distance. The southern part of the trail at that time of day wasn't particularly crowded, and only a couple of times was I held up by congestion on the path. At certain spots I was even able to run on gravel and grass that was flat, which my feet and knees, no doubt, appreciated.

On the return I had a stroke of luck, though at the time it was a bit of an annoyance, when Dan called me (and made me stop to dig my phone out) to tell me the cable guy was unexpectedly swinging by and that he'd be there in about 15 minutes. I hung up, buckled down and doubled my pace to get home through the stretch that I had intended to be my cool down. Not 5 minutes after I arrived, the skies opened up and it started to pour. Even now as I write this, the sky is dark as dusk still, the rain is coming down in sheets, and the lightning is everywhere. I am glad that I managed to escape it all - thanks Dan and the cable guy though, true to form, he's now about a half hour late and counting.

Lake path: mostly 'ahhhh' with some 'aaargh' moments...

As I surmised, the lake path on a week day morning is virtually empty; gone are the large groups of marathon training groups that I encountered last weekend. Instead, I met with a handful of every-day runners coming up from the South Side; a couple of old Asian men out for their morning bike ride in crisp and blindingly-white button down shirts; and a small pack of riders in full kit headed south, no doubt getting in a quick training ride before heading to work. I also encountered someone who, if not actually Julie, was her absolute twin. Julie - were you riding on the path this morning ~8:20am headed south? I kind of doubt it now as you're probably on your way back from Puerto Rico. At any rate, your doppelganger smiled very nicely at me as I rode by, and I smiled back and let out the surprised 'hey!' of mistaken recognition- I didn't really have time to be embarrassed by the 'who are you?' look as we were both far past each other when I began to doubt it really was you.

On the down side (and this was indeed a very small down side), I could do without the suicidal gnats flying into my eyeballs. At 8am they should be sufficiently dulled and bloodshot from sleep to not provide the whitest and shiniest target in the area - can't they find a street sign or something to aim for instead? Nevertheless they land right in the white every single time. I guess it's time to buy a new pair of sunglasses; who knows when the old ones will turn up? I also could have done without all the slippery storm debris, but that's a small price to pay for the tranquility of being able to ride over a virtually-deserted, tree-lined path every morning. All-in-all, a lovely way to start the morning and, as I noted, a great way to end the day if I want to take advantage of the beach at the spot where I exit the path. Mmmmm swimming on a sweaty August evening - heavenly if the e coli manages to stay in check. Milwaukee - I'm calling on you - hold off on dumping so much this summer, and we'll see what we can do about the flying rats pooping in the lake. Thanks.