Time of run: 4:00 pm
Temp: 45 degrees F (feels like 37)
Conditions: Rainy, blustery, winds 12 mph
Distance: 6 miles out, 6 miles back (12 miles total)
Longest run yet, and well, I wasn't ready for it, but there it was on the goal map. I figured if I got tired, I'd just walk the rest (that much I know I can do). I parked at Midland branch library and got started, noting the view outside the library doors was wet and dreary.
I headed east on Stark Street from 122nd, and the scenery wasn't exactly enlightening, particularly these two businesses that have become a familiar theme in far east Portland:
The second one struck me as a little weird: "Dark Vegan Playland"...? How Portlandia! A quick web search reveals...yes it's true, a vegan menu to go with your witch themed dancers. Good grief.
Farther up Stark - or was it Glisan now? - I came across this reclamation construction project. Now there's a place I wanted to explore! I could see the exposed inner staircases on the second floor and thought, "Wouldn't it be great just to climb around that with some friends?" Just like a kid.
Onward and outward, toward 223rd. It had been raining lightly during the first five miles, but as I got close to the Fairview-Columbia Library, it started to pour. And not just raining hard, but absolutely DUMPING water. And wind! There was no hope of keeping any portion of my body dry, so I just kept running, through puddles and lakes. (More like going for a swim!) And I'll admit, I got a little lost, as I couldn't pull my iPhone out of its protective plastic bag to check my Google map. But after about 15 extra minutes of running around, there it was. And a beautiful sight too: Shelter from a storm. I walked in, dripping water embarrassingly.
By now, I was really running late (no pun intended, really!) to make it back, to see Amy's play with Lisa. I grabbed the first two CDs that looked interesting, dashed back out the door, and headed out for a long, six mile run straight west on Halsey. Nice view into the oncoming sunset at least, and the rain seemed to be tapering (at least there were no more drenchings).
Unfortunately, I started getting leg cramps about two miles from the library, and walked/ran/limped the remaining four miles back to the car. I wasn't a happy camper at this point: very wet, hobbled and unable to push my pace to get to the school in time for the start of the play. But I pressed on, swearing frequently, until I made it back to the car, quick changed into dry clothes, and got to the play in time to catch Amy's scene, which she performed hilariously. Well done Amy!
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Last week's CD finds at Midland Library:
Spanky & Our Gang, Best of Spanky & Our Gang
I couldn't remember these guys when I looked at the CD cover but after hearing the lead track (their highest charting single, from 1967), it came back to me, a hazy memory from the AM radio days of my childhood:
Nice enough stuff, but nothing nearly as memorable as the Mamas & Papas "California Dreamin'," music in a similar vein. Ah, the 60's, wish we could just take the flower-smelling and navel-gazing part and leave the rest. Maybe we can now?
Martyn, Ghost People
Oh, so this is what "dubstep" sounds like. Techno updated for the 2010's. Pleasant enough, but I'm not sure what to do with it, except bob my head and dance a bit in place. Just too samey between tracks. That's the problem with genres like techno, dubstep, and drum 'n' bass: They have to stay within pretty rigid musical boundaries (rhythm, instrumentation, etc) to fit the genre, which ultimately gets repetitive and tiresome. Or maybe it's just me and my uneducated ears?
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