Old City, New Spaces

I've had to use Google Maps thrice now to navigate Pgh - I've been gone only 5 months. I went for a run on the:

and crossed this bridge...

...into the neighborhood of Duck Hollow, a Yinzer Brigadoon.

 #WhereamI #WhoamI

What's cooler than bein' cool?

Ran 19 miles today (with a mini break between mile 14 & 15 because of 320ft climb) and how did reward myself? 15 minutes in an ice bath.

Now I know how Jack felt.

Sunset over Seattle

Because I don't run with my camera and the best scenic views I see on my runs, here's a Paint rendering of the awesome sunset I saw over Seattle from Medina:

Getting Philosophical

To experience or capture - that is the question.

Yesterday was a rare cloudless day in Seattle. I treated myself on such a day with a run as reward for putting in 10 hour day on my thesis survey. Without exaggeration, it was the most breath-taking run I've ever taken.

I traversed over 14 miles on sidewalks, side streets, and mulched paths. I encounter boardwalks & blueberry farms, forests & fields, old-timey windmills & waterfalls, 3 lakes, each bigger than the one before, two birds of prey that I'm going to call golden eagles (because they were huge), a navy seal tearing up hill sprints on a ridiculous incline, and such scenery that I cannot paint with words.

And yet in the midst of such wonder, I couldn't help but lament not having brought my phone or camera that I could pull off some Zooey Deschanel running-photography from Yes Man! A feast for my senses, and all I have to show you of it is a picture of the sunset from my apartment (where I sat and iced my knee).

Today's technology of instant capture and instant share frequently results in us experiencing our lives through the filter of our camera phones or glowing screens. We take pictures of our food before we eat it (like I did with my dinner last night!) We have this incessant urge to document every fleeing moment. But at what cost? Do we miss living the moment because we're so busy trying to capture it? 

And why must we capture it? Are we so afraid that we'll never have another moment, another run, another meal as good as the one we didn't fully experience in the first place?

So I have no pictures for you from my run. The only remnants of the day lie in my faulty memory and in my tender knee, but I'm going to keep running and keeping living, to experience all the more that life has to offer, not settling for even the best of today - because tomorrow is full of its own opportunity (and hope) for awesome.

Stay tuned though! I have some sweet pictures of the dinner I made.

Climbing + Running = Climning?

I love getting to know a new place by running. I take a different route every time I run and get to see hidden treasures and secret gardens. But I also get lost and go for 10 miles when I meant to only go 6.

Solution - just map it ahead of time. Brilliant!

How could that possibly go wrong?

It's not like massive construction won't still get me lost or that the map could somehow be deceiving. Maps can't lie. Map would never lead me astray. Map loves me. Map keeps me on straight and level roads...

Running in the Rain

Being a native 'burgher, I'm no stranger to running in inclement weather. Today I came back from 9m run soaked through and through. Here lies my post-run soggy garb.