22 short films about the West Loop.

after being all bummed out yesterday about my running, i went out today telling myself i would just run, no looking at the gizmo. it was way cooler out today and i just sort of plodded along. the results? 10:17, 10:18, 10:00, 9:54, 9:51. 5 in 50:18, negative splits, without thinking about it. maybe? ...

the funny part was how today, the first day in a month that i was looking around and enjoying it, there was just so much going on. in retrospect it reminds me of a certain Simpsons episode. in mile 1, Molly started going crazy. I couldn't figure out why... it was because Ben was biking by on the way to work. Then in mile 2 a guy kept shouting at us, and it took me a while to figure out that it's my friend from Streets and Sanitation- but he's traded in his white truck for a navy blue one, so I didn't recognize him. Back in the park in mile 3, the police trainees were running in orange vests two abreast and took a cut through the park, catching up to me. "Taking a shortcut, eh?" I joked. One offered to race me. I wondered why they were way faster than their usual ~12:00 pace today, but two miles later I saw why-- the women had a separate running group and a separate trainer. The smaller crowd of summer school students headed to Whitney Young did the usual shriek-and-jump at Molly, then I saw the police running a third time, a shih tsu tried to attack Molly, and that was 5.

my ankle started getting angry at mile 2 (maybe that's why i started running faster?) between my still-super-swollen finger and my still-angry-ankle-tendon, i'm starting to wonder if i'll ever be in one piece again.

anyway, the running crap list is getting longer still, since months ago Dan found a camelback fanny pack for cheap on steep n' cheap. since it was cooler today i thought i'd give it a shot. it was ok. not sure i like it more than my water bottle holder. either way, it used to be put on shoes - grab dog - run. now it's ipod-gizmo-heart rate strap-water carrier thingey-dog. too much crap.

last night we met Dan n' Lisa for a lakefront picnic. Without thinking about it we chose the lawn in front of the Field Museum as our spot, but hot damn! What a view. Everyone on their afternoon workout and every idiot on a bike was our entertainment for the night. If you heard someone shouting your name but couldn't figure it out (Chris P was the best at that) it was us. Sorry about that.