Those cool necklaces all the baseball players are wearing nowadays...

Just in case you haven't seen them yet, turn on the World Series and there they'll be.

Want to know what they are? Or what they're for?

Well, they are Phiten Titanium Necklaces. You can find out what they're for here.

Runners, golfers, tennis players, football players, as well as all the baseball players are wearing them.

Cause they're cool!

Which is why I have one. But I had mine before most everybody else.

Seriously!

So when you see me with it and you're thinking I'm just trying to be like everybody else, well, I'm not--at least with my super-cool Phiten Titanium Necklace in red and black. I'm one of the legitimate non-famous trend setters.

These aren't the droids we're looking for...

Went to lunch yesterday with my Hay. That makes me special, indeed!

We had a window seat at one of the more popular franchises in the area--there were a lot of people coming in and out.

Two in particular caught my eye. Both were wearing scrubs. One, caught up in the moment and not looking where she was going, plowed right into the rear view mirror of a parked car they were walking by. It had to have hurt--and her pride too a bit. I got a good laugh out of it.

Lunch and a laugh--can't beat that!

Rain + construction = one big A mess!

I've got a 45 foot long trench within feet of my front door--and the dirt that filled the trench is piled up along side it and has served, over the past couple of days, as sponge for all the rain. I now have mud in the house and in the trailer

I'm growing weary.

More than weary.

It's going to be a long winter.

I'm looking for free room and board in the American Fork/Pleasant Grove area for the winter--anybody know of anything?

Me and Imelda Marcos

You remember Imelda Marcos? Wife of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos?

She had 2700 pairs of shoes.

I have, probably, less than 1% of that number. Yes, I have fewer than 27 pairs of shoes. But it's close. I'm probably pushing close to 20 pair.

And most of them are running shoes.

Which really isn't that surprising--at least to me.

What kind of boggles my mind is this: I have probably 7 pairs of running shoes that I currently rotate through. Some are road shoes and others are trail shoes, but still.

There was a time, not so long ago, that I was rotating 1 pair of shoes. Which means there was no rotation. I wore the same pair of running shoes day in and day out until they wore out.

So what happened?

Has less than 1% of me been taken over by the spirit of Imelda?

Caught up in a run...

I went running today after work. I missed running on Saturday on account of me being busy doing other things. And kids.

So I knew that I really ought to get a run in today. So, I packed my running bag and took it to work with me. Shorts, socks, shoes, shirt--check. Garmin/watch--that would be a big negative. Oh well. Ever noticed that shorts, shoes, and shirt all begin with the letters S and H? Add socks to the mix and they all begin with the letter S! How cool is that?

Anyways, I managed to get through the day at the office and donned the 4 S's and drove up to the mouth of Provo Canyon.

I wore my Vibram Five-Fingers for 4 miles. Probably a bit much, but I actually enjoyed it at the time. Right now my calves are crying foul, but at 5:45 I was having a good time. I ran the first 4 in the Five-Fingers and then changed into my Saucony Kinvaras and ran 4 more.

I was in the zone. I could have run all night if I had the time and the inclination.

Well, actually, I think I did have the inclination and I probably could have made the time--but it was getting close to dark and I didn't have a flashlight. I thought about coming home and hopping on the treadmill, but the house has no power except for a single extension cord that is currently feeding electricity to the fridge and this computer.

Got home and didn't run any more. But I really wish I could have. And then my calves got all tight and cranky. Something about barefoot running and calves... I like it!

Didn't get my laundry done either. Needed to, but I didn't. The laundromat in town closes at 9:00 p.m. The boy and I were both somewhat surprised by that. Laundromats should have late hours or should be open 24 hours.

Yeah, the boy. I was unlocking the door to get in the house, but found it unlocked. Walked in cautiously and found the boy poking his head around the corner. What a turd! I need a little warning.

But anyways, the point of this blog was to mention the fact that I had planned on giving careful and considerate thought to my daughter. She's expecting. Pregnant. Due in early January. But this has been a difficult pregnancy for her. She has what is called a velamentous cord insertion. Google it--I'm not going to explain it. Needless to say, it can be troublesome. I was going to give some thought to this subject and my daughter on this run.

And I spaced it.

It didn't even cross my mind once.

Until I was home.

I'm such a poor father...

So I'm making up for it now, by signing off on this blog and considering what I meant to earlier.

Is this heaven?

I ran through a bit of heaven today.

At least it felt like heaven.

Most of it.

It was, oh, I don't know--awesome?

Totally awesome!

And I live 13 miles away from 24/7/365 access.

And me such a bitter and angry person. Really?

2 miles up the Bear Canyon trail, hop on trail 150 and/or 151--The Great Western Trail--and then it hooks up to the Pine Hollow Trail. 8 miles of heaven. At Salamander Flat there's the option to go up some more and hook into trail 157 before diverting down on the Pine Hollow trail and you've added what I hope turns out to be 2 more miles. I'll let you know for sure when I find out.

Aside from the close proximity of the Alpine Loop road and the fact that motorcycles (of the dirt variety) are allowed on the trail, this really is one of THE best trails I've run on.

I was starting to hurt a bit during the last mile, but it was hurting soooooooo good!

The only bad thing? It's October--there's going to be snow up there perty soon and that's going to severely limit access.

Aw hell!

I read somewhere that having a back bone is a good thing.

I wouldn't know--I don't have one.

As evidenced by the fact that I wasn't going to run any more races this year, but I've already been 94% talked into another one--one that's 360 miles to the southwest.

A tough one.

Really tough.

Almost brutal even.

Cool race though.

Way cool.

What is it?

It's the Valley of Fire Marathon.

Extremely scenic.

I haven't run the new course, but I believe it may be more scenic than the old one.

You should check it out. It's November 20th in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.