Speaking of obvious...

Friday, April 15, 2016

Yesterday I mentioned those who are obviously here for the Marathon Monday... today I got out among them. 38 F at 7:30 a.m. (local time) when I started my opportunistic run. The plan was for 12 miles, "long and slow". I knew the general direction from studying maps of where I wanted to run... the Charles River was my target.

And I started out doing what I do even back home. 

Step 1: Get the Garmin to find satellites. This may sound simple, but in city canyons it can be challenging. I got myself over to the tent city near the finish line before they kicked in. Then I started the watch and my run.

Step 2: Go whichever direction allows you to keep running, taking advantage of stop lights and friendly traffic cops.

Step 3: Arrive at the target venue and by that time, you are probably warmed up.

Step 4: If unsure of a turn/straight... follow a runner who looks "local". If all else fails ask directions (they really ARE friendly here... they support their runners)!

I savored every mile of my 12... Boston sports cherry blossoms along the river. The various college crews were out practicing in their shells, coxswains calling the strokes. At one spot, I was watching 4 woman crews.

I ran some on the Cambridge side. Ran by the "MIT Crew" truck. Ran by several of the security folks.

Some construction crew was out. LOTS of bikers, runners, dog walkers, commuters, etc.

I was short on miles by the time I got back, so ran on down Boyleston street to the Common and found our meeting site for Saturday. I was missing only about a quarter of a mile when I got there, so ran my last quarter mile as "hills" up to the Capitol.

Back to hotel, and showered. Now, I shall be heading out for lunch and sight seeing. Ahhh! This trip was soooo worth it!

Let's all get out there, wherever we are, and live this April 15th, 2016 as though it were the only one we're ever going to get... because it is!