Tuesday Two-State Adventure

Today was my first day back home that Alycia had to pack up and go to school, so after some tasty breakfast burritos, we headed off in the North Dakotamobile (which is going to need a new nickname since there are quite a few North Dakotamobiles here) and went to UND. I got to drop Alycia off at school and get a guided tour of her building, office, and lab, all of which were impressive. I also met a couple of her colleagues and can now rest easy that she's in good intellectual hands.

After a few hours of work/Internet browsing, I decided that the best present I could give Alycia when she got home was a tired Shaak Ti, and I got ramped up for a run. It's a beautiful blustery day today with scattered thunderstorms, just a fantastic day for a run. I checked the Doppler Radar to make sure there were no heavy showers coming, and we headed out.

Since our house is only two blocks from an entrance to the Greenway, and we're right across the river from Minnesota, I have the unique ability to say that I completed a two state run, which is kind of cool. It was my first run in a few weeks, and my first with Shaak Ti in North Dakota, so it wasn't the best, but we did it. I forgot how hard it is running with Shaak Ti - The Littlest Sled Dog. She pulls so hard, for most of the run, that you not only have to lean back (making your gate bio-mechanically difficult), but you have to engage your biceps and lats and essentially do a low grade lat pull the entire run. This saps much of the energy that I would otherwise prefer to utilize in my legs, which would hopefully make the run easier to complete. I tried to explain this to Shaak Ti, but she would have none of it.

I got away from running in my years in San Diego, there was just too much heat, too many cars, too many concrete sidewalks to run on, and I lost my running mojo. My San Diego neighborhood was great, but not the most conducive to running, and getting in the car to drive somewhere to run just seems to defeat the purpose of running. Running is supposed to be the simplest, most efficient form of exercise, you put on your shoes and step out your door, and just run. That was hard for me to do in San Diego, but here, with access to a lovely paved path along the Red River it should be easier.

Right now I'm sitting on the front screened in porch listening as the rumbles of thunder get closer and closer, and watching the fat drops of rain smack the windows. Add a sleepy puppy, a window rattling clap of thunder, and my post run endorphin buzz, and it's a pretty good afternoon. I couldn't be a happier camper.