Today was a gorgeous day!  I went running in the park, as I like to do. 

I was finishing up my run, and I passed a man walking across the grass and then across my path.  He was holding a passport and a phone, and he looked confused.  I almost stopped, but then I kept going a bit.  I turned around, and he waved me down.  Normally I don’t stop for people, but I was now at a corner with lots of cars going by so I figured I was safe enough. 

He asked if I knew where the nearest library was.  He explained that he had dual citizenship and his visa was expiring (or had expired) and he needed to find an embassy.  Frankly it was all sort of confusing, plus I was finishing up a run, so my brain wasn’t fully working.  I pointed him towards the direction I was pretty sure a library was (embarrassingly I wasn’t sure but I recalled driving by one within 6 to 8 blocks.) He persisted, asking, was that the "carpenter" branch he was finding on his cell phone.  I told him I just didn’t know, but I was sure there was a library that way.  Then he said he had been lost, and was walking through the park, and some man came up to him and asked was he looking for a date, and he thought the man had exposed himself. 

So…I said, huh, I’ve heard of that happening.  And I asked, what did he look like?  (At this point, my brain is saying, what?? why is a stranger telling me this?)  He said he was in a Nissan.  At which point, I thought, why is he telling me this?  He might just be freaked out…or perhaps he’s leading in a direction I don’t want to go, like, maybe he was planning to expose HIMSELF or maybe he was just going to ask for a date, or for who knows.  So I said, I have to be on my way, and I left.

What do you think?  I found the whole situation really strange and odd.  I wouldn’t have stopped at all except he did look lost plus I was bigger and near a busy street corner (busy with both cars and pedestrians, I might add.)  Has anything weird like that happened to you? 

Also…here’s the forecast for tomorrow.  What happened??  Scattered flurries???

Running (for me) seems to be one of those things that sometimes feels really easy and other times feels ridiculously difficult.  The past few days have been those easy days…the race Saturday, 9 miles on Sunday, and today!

I did a little treadmill workout Mike recommended for me—25/35 he calls it.  You run for 25 seconds/rest for 35 seconds (just hop to the sides) for 30 minutes.  I set the incline to 6.0 and the speed to 6.2, after ten minutes I moved it up to 6.3, then a little further along moved the incline to 6.3.  I did the last 5 minutes at 7 and 6.4.  He suggested eventually taking the incline up to 8, and of course moving the speed up as you can.  For your reference, I generally run flat on the treadmill between 5.5 and 6 mph if I am running a few miles.  Anyway, the minutes flew by (I hate when people say that, but they truly did!) and I felt sweaty and exhausted, but great.  Mike thinks my goal for the half in April should be at least 2:20 (I’m thinking of 2:15 as an "A" goal, and making that my "B" goal, actually). 

We also discussed using the "bathroom" while running.  I told him for my fastest 5K I felt like I had to puke the entire time, and he (of course) one-upped me by saying for his fastest half-marathon he had to pee the whole time.  I asked why he didn’t just pee himself…and he said he was trying but was completely unable to pee while running.  I guess maybe that’s something he needs to train for? (I suggested trying to pee while walking and then building from there…) We of course naturally discussed pooping while running, since we are both fascinated by that (who isn’t?).  The next exercise he made me do involved clenching my glute muscles and I suggested this was counter to training to poop while running, in fact would make it more challenging.  Then we realized we had spent over five minutes discussing gross bodily functions while running…and figured we should move on. 

Okay, fine.  I’ll stop talking about bodily functions.

Honestly, not much else to report.  I’ve got over five hours of teaching ahead of me today (gasp! the horrors!) and this week is pretty much just a normal week.  One big of exciting news is that I got a phone call from Bed, Bath, and Beyond about a special "Registry Completion Event" at the store where everything we want to buy will be 20 percent off, so we are going to wait to shop then.  I’m hoping it won’t be too hectic?  Has anyone been to one of these things?  Opera rehearsals start this weekend, and I’ve got a STACK of music to learn for the next six weeks…and I haven’t practiced all week because my violin is in the shop being cleaned and getting the fingerboard planed.  I get it back tomorrow though, and it should be gorgeous!