And, So He Went Home By Another Way

I checked the radar, and it looked like I might have a short window this morning to do my run, so I finished the Brad Paisley article I was reading in my Cowboys and Indians magazine, and headed out a little after 4.

There were 3 Garland Police cars down at the end of the street at what we refer to as "the nightmare house." Having the police down there is not such a big deal anymore, but a regular occurrence. Lots of fighting and drinking and just general carousing goes on down there at all hours of the day and night. Our street is often strewn with beer bottles and the remains of fast food. I often take a trash bag when I go to deliver my neighbors' papers to their front porch. I could hear lots of shouting from down there this morning. I'm just glad we don't live closer. And, luckily, I run the other direction out of the neighborhood. (Though, with all that going on down there, I felt a little uncomfortable at taking off running away from 3 police cars.)

The air was thick and wet and still. Some guy turned in front of me and floored it, leaving a cloud of that burning smell a car makes when it gets too much gas and can't burn it all. He drove this way about a quarter of a mile, and thus the cloud ran that far. I was sure I was going to pass out from asphyxiation at some point. But, he turned off, and the air cleared just in time.

Someone else drove up close and yelled out at me. I jumped about 3 feet in the air. That was good for a warm-up -- got my heart pumping real good.

I didn't see any animals this morning -- I figured they had decided to sit this one out.

There was some lightning around, but nothing too close. Enough, though, to wake Kelly, who met me near the end of my run with the car (to rescue me.) I was almost to the end of our street, so I just finished up while she drove back home and put out the trash.

I normally finish my run and then cool down by walking down to the nightmare house and back. But, this morning, I went home by another way.

I've been eating better since our training program started. The pleats are starting to show up again in my work pants. So, that's a good thing.