Church hooky.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

I had another busy day planned and had to figure a way to get in a run. Holly was out of town and so I knew if I skipped church, she wouldn’t know…right away. I still had to take Jack there since he’s the daycare baby sitter, but it does back right up to the North Chagrin Reservation and that would mean I’d have just enough time to get in a run and pick him up afterwards. I’ve done this before and Father Joe always throws me a blessing when I walk into the church covered in mud and sweat from a trail run. He’s confined to a wheelchair, but was once a runner and has told me he likes to see that I’ve been running. He doesn’t know that I check my resting pulse in church, but I suspect he’d be okay with it if he did.

Since it had rained most of the previous day, I expected to find the trails sloppy and submerged. They weren’t. I suppose we were dry for so much of the summer that these little one-day rains just aren’t enough to flood the park. That’s okay with me because even though I run through the slop, I prefer a dry trail.

I wanted to run at least 40 minutes and felt good for the first 30. I did feel some of the pain I’d had in the buttocks the other day, but it really wasn’t the same as the hip and so I kept going. I ended up running a course that took 43 minutes and as I came to the end and began to walk, pumped my fist in the air, elated that I’d made it so far without pain.

I returned to the church and went inside to get Jack. Father Joe noticed the mud on my legs and gave me the ‘thumbs up’. He knows I don’t pull it too often…so I’m still good.

My sister Cristin stopped for a visit. She’s a pathologist and lives and works in Kentucky and has some rather interesting views on what happens to the body of those who don’t exercise or abuse their bodies with bad diets, smoking or other unhealthy lifestyle choices. She’s a kayaker, hiker, and almost camper and wants me to come down and try out the mountains closer to her. She’s gone up to the Adirondacks on my recommendation, but isn’t quite ready for the back country hiking and climbing. I may take her up on Kentucky next summer.

To most Cleveland sports fans, it was a good Sunday with the Browns defeating the Bengals for their first win of the young season. For me, it was an Indians loss on the last day of their miserable year and prospects looking dim for the immediate future. I hate to think we’re returning to the Indians of the pre-Jacobs era, but I suspect we are. Maybe we can keep some of the young talent now being developed in the farm system and recently promoted to the majors, but the last couple of seasons would say ‘they’re outta here’.

Though Holly was in Milwaukee and unavailable to prepare the Sunday family dinner, her day made his wonderful beef stew and we had it anyways. We called her during dinner and put her on the speaker phone so that she could be a part of the gathering from her hotel room. I had picked up a peach pie from Patterson’s earlier in the afternoon to substitute for her peach cobbler, and put a hefty dent in it later that evening. I did leave enough for a good, healthy breakfast though.

Run duration: 43 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 725.