Running Chick

Say hello to Venus.

She found us on our run this morning. We were 2 miles in to a four-miler, running by the Rozsa Center, when she ran by us looking frantic and lost.  No obvious owner in sight.  It took some cajoling, but she stopped for us and I used my long sleeved shirt as a leash. 

She had a collar, with a Hancock address. What was she doing across the canal in Houghton? I sat with her while Josh ran over to the MTU Public Safety building.  Josh returned with an officer after about 10 minutes and he was going to take her over to her owner’s address.  She reminded of my old running partner, Buddy (miss you Bud), so I felt strongly compelled to make sure she was comforted and safe and I asked if I could ride along.  The officer agreed, so Venus and I piled into the back of the police SUV. Josh was in the front. 

Ever been in the back of a police car? It’s all plastic and bulletproof plexiglass.  I’ll let you make assumptions why.  Not the best surface for doggie toenails. Officer is a holy-shit-you’re-going-to-put-us-in-the-ditch driver and Venus and I are sliding around like we’re on a slip-n-slide.  She finally ended up climbing on my lap.  Anyway, over to Venus’s address.  Nobody home.  Were they out looking for her? Why didn’t they have a cell phone?  Off we head to the Copper Country Humane Society, where we drop her off.  I am a big supporter of the CCHS, but I really wanted her to get back to her home and I was sad that we couldn’t make that happen.  I’m planning on calling her owners tomorrow to see if she made it home.  If not, maybe I’ll end up with a running partner.

So, running. This week I ended up with a little over 14 miles, last week I had 19. Next Sunday is the half marathon and I'm feeling pretty good. Aside from the giant blister on my left foot that I keep on aggravating, all systems are go.  Looking forward, if everything goes well and I’m healthy and feeling good, I’m tossing around the idea of doing the Whistlestop HM in Ashland, WI on October 13th.  I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with the two weeks between races, so we’ll see.

I logged another 16+ mile week this week, capping it off with a 6-ish mile run this morning. My total for July was 71 miles. That’s my highest monthly mileage ever. The last time I was close to that was back in March 2008 when I logged 65 miles. They were not pain-free. Milestones!

Since I don’t have anything more useful to say, here’s a summary of the last week in arbitrary, strange and meaningless pictures.

My lunch. The pizza was made with more natural ingredients than the yogurt. Tasted better, too.

Hot rod and trailer on US41.

Somebody got fancy new running shoes.

The Great Lakes Research Center is coming right along.

August 14th, I get my HamSexy on.

It is not necessarily cooler at McLain Park but the trail sure is pretty.

I wanted to knock over this little rock tower that somebody painstakingly erected. I took a picture instead.

Lighthouse @ McLain Park. I did not go swimming.

New fire truck.

Old fire truck. I think it said 1919 on the front.

Probably part the reason why the first three miles of my morning run sucked so much. That and the million beers I had.

You know, I never really checked to see if anybody was inside the wax building at the Tech Trails while I was narcissistically snapping pictures of my reflection of the windows.

My new claim to fame: running on the new sidewalk by the Tech football field before it’s actually a sidewalk.

I picked up a giant crow’s feather to bring back for Kitty. I didn’t have anywhere to put it, so I stuck it in my hat. It’s the next fashion craze, I’m certain of it.

My new and bestest running partner who just completed week 3 of the Couch to 5k program and is already faster than I am.  What a booger.

We should have followed them to see what was going on. It looked like it might be fun!