Levy Trail

I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 30:43. It's perfect out; OK, it was then, but not later. Levy had about ten minutes of sleet in the afternoon. It might have been hail.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next motherfucker who says inflation and higher oil prices are good for the economy

OVERHEARD
"Sounds good, dad."
—woman on a telephone at Eubanks Veterinary Clinic, after a conversation about Ruth, who was spayed on Wednesday

Ridge Road Loop

I walked the Ridge Road Loop this afternoon in 59:17.

Levy Trail

I walked with the Geezers from the southernmost point of the Levy Trail to Camp Robinson and back this morning in 1:48:40. It's about 6.1 miles. Steve Hughes was with us. He's a Hasher from thirty years ago who moved to Chicago, but recently retired and moved back. He has walked with the Geezers for the last couple of months, but this was the first time I'd seen him since the early eighties.

Levy Trail

I jogged for a total of 19 minutes, and otherwise walked the Levy Trail from here to Camp Robinson and back at lunchtime in 1:08:23, with splits of 35:20, and 33:03. This could've been a PR, but I'm not sure. I kind of remember a 1:05, maybe. The rainbow shoes were great on the rocks. My feet feel fine.

Levy Trail

I walked the Levy Trail this afternoon from here to Camp Robinson and back in 1:16:23.

Ghetto Cat Loop/Hash

After having slept too late to run the Ouachita Trail, I jogged for a total of nine minutes, and otherwise walked the Ghetto Cat Loop at lunchtime in 25:38. We Hashed in Jacksonville, by the base. I probably went about two miles. The women who hosted the run made great pulled pork.

Burns Park Loop

Best I can tell, I completed my second fastest circuit of the Burns Park Loop this morning. I jogged and walked it in 1:14:54. All the evidence I could find, by searching Burns Park Loop, says my PR—of 1:12:39—was set last May. This felt pretty easy. But here's the big deal: these shoes (Rosemary said, "They look like the kind of shoes where you go, 'I got them on sale.') were by far the most rock-absorbent I have worn. My feet feel fine. I can't explain it. They weigh seven ounces. There's a chance they might not do well on a slippery trail. As Bill Seale would say, "They soles ain't got much gription." Otherwise, they seem perfect. Maybe I'll give them a test drive on the Ouachita Trail tomorrow.

Cook's Landing/Levy Trail

I walked for about an hour and a half this morning from Cook's Landing with Ron Gimblet, and a former Little Rock Hasher named Ann Kell. Ann and her husband moved away in 1988, and have since lived in Minneapolis and Seattle. I last saw her in 1991. She's now 60, and still cute.

These new racing flats are as comfortable as any shoe I've worn. I plan to try some trial running with them this weekend. This afternoon I walked two miles on the Levy Trail in 31:57.

Sweet Baby Jesus Christ Memorial Two-mile Race to Hell and Back/Levy Loop

This is one of those rare mornings when a ninety-mile-an-hour wind coincides with garbage day. Consequently, Levy looks like a landfill. At one point, walking east on 42nd Street, I heard what sounded exactly like a horse galloping up behind me. I turned to see a Lil' Caesars Pizza® box blowing end over end, toward the finish of my 29:05 walk of the Sweet Baby Jesus Christ Memorial Two-mile Race to Hell and Back course.

This evening I jogged the Levy Loop in 22:18, with splits of 11:18 and 11:00, in a new pair of ridiculous-looking racing flats from New Balance. I like them a lot; they're light as ether, and I can't wait to test them on a trail, but they're really funny looking. They're white on top, but their logo, midsoles, and shoestrings look as if someone ate a box of crayons and then vomited on them: New Balance RV1400.

38th Street Loop

I walked the 38th Street Loop this morning in 30:02, and this afternoon alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks, and two-minute jogs with three-minute walks, to complete two miles on the Levy Trail in 26:57, with splits of 13:16, and 13:42. I have felt very good all day, and am particularly pleased that Jo and Ruth haven't fought since about ten this morning (it's now 5:12 p.m.). By the way, Pam and Samantha seem entertained by their little step sisters.

Levy Trail

I walked three miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon—wearing golf shorts and a polo—in 47:27.

Ridge Road Loop/Oaklawn Park

I didn't jog much, maybe five minutes. Mostly I walked the Ridge Road Loop tonight in 56:18. Earlier, after trips to Nashville and Hot Springs to see Mom and Dad, I lost $20 on three races at Oaklawn Park, which puts me down, I think, $100.40 for the season. Ten minutes before the Southwest Stakes started, I talked to BJ about the beauty and grace of a colt named Tapiture. Sad to say I didn't bet on him. He won with a gorgeous stretch run, and I imagine will move at least close to the top of the Kentucky Derby future lists tomorrow. My favorite story today was that I know the daughter of a Nobel Prize winner.

Levy Trail

Man, I overdressed a little for my lunchtime walk today. I walked two miles on the Levy Trail in 30:51, and then opened a couple of windows and turned off the goddamned heater, which is back on now, after walking and jogging for 1:05:12 through Burns Park with the Little Rock Hash. Here's what else. Read this. About twenty-five of us ate and drank at a perfect, Mexican run place in Levy after Hash. I sat next to Katy Grubbs, the former Yale and professional basketball player, and somewhere in the midst of our conversation learned that her father won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2005. Bob Grubbs. Or Robert Grubbs on the Internet and in the World Almanac. He's a professor at Cal Tech. Her dad won a Nobel Prize. She may as well have told me he won the Pulitzer for fiction, or was a Super Bowl MVP, or won the Masters. No. The Nobel is tops. Man.

Hardcastle Loop

I walked the Hardcastle Loop this morning in 43:41, and felt great. Also, I saw and petted the red cat on West Street for the first time in a couple of years. This was the first time I'd seen him wearing tags. I wish I could figure out how to keep tags on my cats. Red seemed in perfect health. The tags made him look loved.

Levy Trail

I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 33:21.

OVERHEARD
"I'm done with winter, officially."
—a man in Pennsylvania, holding a snow shovel, on NBC Nightly News

Levy Trail

I walked four miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 1:01:16. At 4:19 p.m., it's sunny and 59°F in Levy.

Park Hill Loop

I alternated two-minute jogs with three-minute walks to complete the Park Hill Loop this morning in 1:02:02, with splits of 12:30, 13:17, 12:03, 12:15, and 11:57. It's still way colder than normal in Levy.

OVERHEARD
"If we're so crazy about figure skating, how come we only watch it once every four years."
—writer from New England on National Public Radio, nearly echoing Pete Perkins' comments concerning turkey and cranberry sauce

Burns Park Loop

Ron, Elaine, Bob McKinney, and I walked the shortened, three-mile, Burns Park Loop this morning in 1:00:14.

Orange Street Loop

I walked the 35th Street Loop this evening in 1:01:17.

OVERHEARD
"The third most common cancer, among men and women, is colon cancer, particularly among African-Americans."
—woman on public-service commercial

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says "...grow the economy."

Hash

I walked and jogged for 1:14:02 from Boyle Park with the Little Rock Hash this afternoon. It was Ronnie's run. I guess we went a little over four miles. It was supposed to be warm today, but wasn't. A big fire failed to keep us comfortable.

33rd Street Loop

I jogged and walked the 33rd Street Loop this morning in 1:03:22, with splits of 12:09, 13:07, 12:36, 13:20, and 12:10. It snowed two inches last night, and it's been so cold, there are two inches of snow everywhere in Levy, including the streets. It's particularly treacherous for jogging because of underlying, scattered ice patches.

Orange Street Loop

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete the Orange Street Loop this morning in 39:59. It's 22°F. We might get a couple of inches of snow this afternoon.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says, "There simply aren't enough hours in a day."

Burns Park Loop

It was so cold this morning that we cut the Burns Park Loop short. Ron Gimblet, Bob McKinney, Sandy Venable, and I walked 3.1 miles in 1:03:27. At 10:45 a.m., it's snowing.

Cook's Landing

I walked four miles out and back from Cook's Landing this morning in 1:05:44, with Ron and Elaine and Jack Alsup. It was so windy and cold that for a few minutes I felt as if my face might break.

Levy Trail

We had a morning of non-stop freezing rain. It sucked. However, the Levy Trail was pretty this afternoon. I walked it from here to Camp Robinson and back in 1:22:36.

Levy Triail

I'm so tired of it being cold. Man, we've had a shitty winter. According to weather.com, it ain't supposed to get into to the fifties over the next ten days. All bundled up, I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 30:53.

OVERHEARD
"They like to put color on 'em, don't they?"
—old, farmer-looking guy on a running-shoe isle at Academy Sports

Hash

There was no going long today. It poured from daybreak until 8 p.m. or so, and never got over about 35°F. I ran and walked for 1:15:09 at Bob Martson's Hash run near Roland and Pinnacle Mountain. I'll say I covered about four miles.

Levy Trail/Levy Trail

Maybe two five-mile runs in three days were too much. My legs remain dead sixty hours later. On the other hand, I'm obviously not attempting to adhere to any specific training protocol, so who cares? I walked the Levy Trail this morning from my maroon recliner to Camp Robinson and back in 1:26:36. I'd like to go a bit more tomorrow morning. At least ten. Perhaps a little more. We'll see. For now, I plan to eat, starting with a big pile of pancakes. That might help. It's hard to say. I felt a bit livelier walking three miles on the Levy Trail, in 47:40, late this afternoon, but I don't think the pancakes or lentils had had enough time to affect me.

OVERHEARD
"You too."
—said with a big, friendly smile, by a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy cranking out seven-minute miles on the gravel of the northern part of the Levy Trail this morning, after I said, "All right. Keep it up." He's the first real, fast runner I have seen on the trail