Orange Street Loop

I ran the Orange Street Loop in 30:42, with splits of 10:27, 10:14, and 10:01.

Ghetto Cat Loop

It started raining at about 1 p.m. Central on Thursday and continued until noon today. I'm not sure how much rain fell past midnight,* but we had 3.7 inches yesterday. I jogged, walked, and dodged streams and puddles along the Ghetto Cat Loop for 22:39, with splits of 11:50 and 10:49.

*now I know: 1.4 inches

Ghetto Cat Loop

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop through a windy downpour of leaves and lukewarm mist in 29:31.

35th Street Loop

I jogged the 35th Street Loop at a pace similar to last night's, going as slowly as I could. I finished in 43:48, with splits of 11:20, 10:53, 10:43, and 10:52.

McCain Mall/Orange Street Loop

It has rained here since noon yesterday, so, as I entered McCain Mall on a mission from mom to purchase $39 Reeboks she saw advertised in the paper, decided to join the other old people for a walk, and walked casually in an attempt to not look like what I was for 35:28. A tall, rail-thin, radiant and unadorned brunette in the Two Hearts® maternity department of Sears narrowly won the Miss McCain Mall Pageant over two Asian-looking buffet attendants at Wok N' Roll.

The rain stopped tonight. At about 8 p.m. Central, I jogged the Orange Street Loop in 33:15, with splits of 11:30, 10:54, and 10:51. This was about as slowly as I can run. Sometimes that fails to work; I feel crappy no matter the pace, but not tonight. This was easy. I'd like to see those other mall-walking motherfuckers stay with me.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop in 31:29 through a lovely and cool, diamond-bright fall morning and shit.

Park Hill Loop

I ran the Park Hill Loop in 48:40, with splits of 10:03, 10:18, 9:28, 9:40, and 9:11.

Ghetto Cat Loop

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop at 9 a.m., drove to Crutch's house in Russellville, watched Mississippi use a running back named McCluster to beat the hell out of Arkansas, heard Crutch say, "Here's a headline for you: Razorbacks' defense a McCluster fuck," scored a 96 at the Russellville Country Club with 2 pars, 12 bogies, 2 doubles, and 2 quadruples, ate two Cornish hens cooked by Amy according to a culinarily masterful Mediterranean recipe from which we sponged the greasy-sweet, bacon-crusted essence with perfectly buttered, mushy new potatoes, and ate small soft, crisp rolls Crutch insisted we dip into a bowl of room-temperature butter, then drove home stuffed, a little drunk, content as two motherfuckers.

35th Street Loop

I was at my mother's house for her birthday from Wednesday afternoon through this morning. I walked the two-mile York Gary Loop on Wednesday and Thursday night. Tonight I jogged the 35th Street Loop in 40:04, with splits of 10:09, 9:51, 10:10, and 9:54.

Levy Loop

I would not even have walked today if it weren't for this streak. I had a weird bout with hypoglycemia early this morning that left me a little beat up and sore, so I limited my exercise to a slow walk of the Levy Loop.

Maple Street Loop

I walked the Maple Street Loop at about 8:30 a.m. Central, and jogged a total of 100 or so yards, in 28:04. I was self conscious jogging in blue jeans and a jacket, but, fuck, it was 38 degrees. Then I took a lesson with Petey King, then, instead of going to the range, drove directly to Burns Park and scored a 50 on the front nine of the long, hard-as-two-motherfuckers course, a pleasing result; had 4 bogies, 4 doubles, 1 triple, and used 19 putts. I hit one green in regulation, with a 166-yard 5-hybrid, and three putted from 30 feet on the perfect but Bolt-fast green. Earlier, I thought I would run tonight, but no way. I awoke at 5 a.m. from a nightmare in which I lost my mind, based on low blood sugar and Ian McEwan's Enduring Love, and haven't slept since; this is a perfect state to appreciate my teetering battle with Jeff Krupsaw in a fantasy football game that hinges for both teams on the results of tonight's game between San Diego and Denver (I trail by 25 points, have San Diego's quarterback, and Jeff San Diego's kicker. I need three or four or five touchdown passes and no field goals. Bunch of yards, bunch of completions. Fuck).

Hash

I ran almost non-stop for 35 minutes to cover about three miles through Alsopp Park and around Hillcrest on Elsa's Hash run.

Levy Loop

It's 52 degrees, nearly cold for mid-October in Levy. I walked the Levy Loop in 28:59.

33rd Street Loop

I ran and walked the 33rd Street Loop in 55:06, with splits of 11:46, 11:43; 11:13, 10:56, and 9:28. I walked for a total of 25 minutes, including two the final mile, so this was almost an interval session. But it wasn't, because it was easy from start to finish. I felt great, great.

I started with a good feeling extant since this morning, when, at 8 Central, I walked the new, two-mile Ghetto Cat Loop in under 29 minutes. The loop includes the section of the 33rd Street Loop, near the Dixie Pig, where earlier this week I met the black cat or kitten. I want to see it again, but did not this morning or tonight.

Levy Loop

I came in from walking the Levy Loop and saw that the Phillies had turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead over the Dodgers. There were Phillies on first and third and Ryan Howard was up with two outs in the top of the fifth. One of the announcers said, "Joe Torre is showing a lot of faith in (Clayton) Kershaw, leaving him in in this situation. This is a chance for Kershaw to grow up as a Major League pitcher."

Howard hit a double so hard it nearly sunk into the right field wall and the Phillies led 5-1. Kershaw wet his pants and started crying.

I hope Paul Eckman is happy.

Hash

I walked, jogged, ran, and sprinted—maybe a total of 200 yards—to complete the Levy Loop at about 10 a.m. Central in 22:54. I didn't click the split function on my watch, but went through the first mile in about 11:55, so the second in close to 11 minutes.

Tonight I ran about three miles with the Humpin' Hash between a silly wine bar in the River Market, E.J.'s, a very smoky $3-pitcher bar, and the silly wine bar. I ran easily, felt good, and ate a delicious ham-and-cheese sandwich at E.J.'s.

33rd Street Loop

I jogged and walked the 33rd Street Loop through a 56-degree mist in 58:18, with splits of 12:09, 12:01, 11:32, 11:20, and 11:17. I stopped in the fourth mile to pet a black cat about Jo's size, close to the Dixie Pig. He or she was eager for attention, and ran with me for 10 or 15 yards as I left; surely a loved cat.*

*and, in retrospect, I believe unique to my experience. I'm fairly certain I have never petted a cat on a run. I think this is the only cat I have encountered under similar circumstances who did not run from me, but rather stayed on with interest and curiosity, apparently as a matter of course.

35th Street Loop

I jogged the Maple Street Loop in 42:02, with splits of 10:30, 10:26, 10:37, and 10:29. I didn't feel good today. Again it was cold and dank, my meeting with Petey King rained out, and my fantasy Green Bay Packers got their clocked waxed. Maybe those were it.

Hash

We ran from the Boyle Park pavilion where Porkin' Mindy made her debut back in 2005, a run after which you criticized Jail Bait Jr. for being bitchy and smoking cigarettes. Mostly with B.J., I was out for 55 minutes to cover a bit more than four miles. Afterward I was entertained by a lesbian, introduced to the Hash by Michele Posey, who likely will cause me to waste time and emotional energy for however long she runs with us, a thought formed around distant and immediate joy as the crowd circled and my sense of responsibility fell away. But don't worry; I am forever aware of my overoptimistic view of such events and know to ignore it.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop this morning and planned to run longer this evening, but it's cold and wet and I'm still a pussy so I'll stay here where it's warm and there are baseball and football games to switch between.

Orange Street Loop

I jogged and walked the three-mile Orange Street Loop in 36:29, through the kind of storm* that this time of year proceeds cool weather. That's good news (a sentiment destined to seem unfuckingimaginable in about two months).

*a big one; according to weather.com's radar, it stretches from Houston to the Wal-Mart parking lot in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia

Levy Loop

I walked and jogged the Maple Street Loop this morning in 28:11. It turned Indian Summer today, 85 and humid. This evening, at about 7:30 Central, I jogged the Levy Loop in 21:52, with splits of 11:10 and 10:42, on what I predict was my last shirtless run of 2009. Several parts hurt, but none severely.

River Trail

I ran eight miles out and back on the River Trail from the Big Dam Bridge, with one-minute walks each quarter of a mile, in 1:27:34, with splits of 11:28, 11:10, 11:33, 11:04, 10:53, 10:51, 10:33, and 10:02. All that felt bad were my hamstrings, but their discomfort, combined with everything else, averaged an overall state of misery. I'm glad I wasn't pulled over on the drive home, because I had to kneel in the driveway to extract my billfold from beneath the driver's seat.

I walked my obligatory two miles Friday-Tuesday, except late Saturday night, when I jogged and walked about four miles on the Arkansas Traveller course.

33rd Street Loop

I jogged and walked the 33rd Street Loop in 55:52, with splits of 11:17, 11:16, 11:09, 11:14, and 10:56, through heavy wind and light rain.

I did not run 10 miles last Saturday, rather the Levy Loop. On Sunday I ran and walked about five miles from the Arkansas River, up to and around Fort Roots and back on a Hash run. On Monday and Tuesday evenings I walked with my mother across the Big Dam Bridge, tacking on enough to make each round trip about two miles. Mother also walked the Levy Loop with me Tuesday morning. I jogged and walked the Maple Street Loop last night.