Change of Address

I am now posting at chefcooke.com/runningthenumbers

Frozen Feet

At 7:52, I started a 23.08 mile bike ride, that lasted 1:34:51 (h:m:s), which puts me at an average speed of 14mph (or about a mile every 4 minutes). I was surprised, because I Google said the ride would take something over 2 hours. I imagined that with street traffic, Google would be right, so I was delighted with the end result. Another surprise was my being able to follow Google's directions from memory without getting significantly lost or having to backtrack from missing a turn.

It was freezing, from beginning to end. When my body finally did warm up internally, it was still surrounded in a shell of wind chill and numbness, that sucked the heat right out. There was an abridged ride home in the evening, who miles I didn't record, that was equally piercing to the core. Riding my bicycle doesn't always give me the free space to think, because I place so much attention to my surroundings, making sure I just finish the ride. The price of speed.

External Forces

At 16:33, I started a 4.12 mile run, which lasted 27:41 (m:s) for an average pace of 6:42. I also had a personal best mile of 5:44 for the final mile in the run. I normally prefer to run in the morning, but a combination of two things inspired me to run this evening. On my bike ride home, there was a beautiful sunset over Cambridge and I haven't run in a while! There were actually a number of compounding thoughts that went through my head to make the decision to run, those were the larger more significant ones though.

I would like to think that I am internally driven and not very effected by my environment. Even if that is the case some of the time, it was not the case today. I didn't get out of bed this morning because it felt so cold in the world beyond my sheets. I spent much of the day in an office, feeling unfocused, with overcast clouds looming outside. I finally broke free of the rut because of the external forces outside of my will. Now that I've recognized this play that exists between myself and the environment... what next?

The photo above is from a shot I took in New York last year, and has a similar feel to the Cambridge/Boston Sunset tonight.

Less

40 minutes of yoga that ended with my removing the desk from my room. Now I have less space to clutter, and more space to breathe.

Untitled 7

At about 14:30, I started 9 mile run that lasted 1:04 (h:m) for an average speed of 7:07 (m:s). Thoughts are too scattered to focus them into words. I started out in one place, and ended up in another. There was a point in the middle, where I was a certain amount of peace. Then I had to concentrate back on my goal, and things became muddled again.

Having a routine makes things clearer for me.

Rain

At 09:44, I started a 4.81 mile run that lasted 33:01 (m:s) for an average pace of 6:52 (m:s). It was in the rain, I dislike running in the rain very much, but I love running even more. Having a goal or a vision aids in overcoming obstacles, however small or large they be.