8.5 Miles through the woods to 7-11 and back.

Run date: Sunday, June 20, 2010
Run time: Sunset

It is a pleasure when a frequent running route is rejuvenated on a nice summer evening. One of the common trails I take is the one heading south from where I live towards Scott Woods and Hawk Island Park in Lansing. Despite the fact that these areas are scenic, they can become a bit dull when run more than once per week.

This evening's run broke through that for a couple reasons. First and most importantly, the generous growing season here in mid-Michigan has contributed to thick, lush vegetation all over the city. The wild flowers are now in full bloom, and on this, the most frequent of my running trails, I experienced a multitude of colors. As the sun set, the sky was beautiful, while the air around me was cool and filled with sweet smells of green and bloom.

At one point along the trail, I ran next to about a quarter mile of thick and tall mint. Just lovely. Another reason that this route was so refreshing was the fact that I just discovered the last leg of the trail--extending from the south side of Hawk Island Park all the way down to Jolly Road, where it dumps you out at the 7-11. Just lovely.

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I saw four deer grazing on my way back north. Here is one--it was comfortable having me within 100 feet.

And here is another....can you spot it?

Here, maybe, is a reason I need to be a little careful gallivanting around the forest. Last weekend's storm knocked trees down. In this one, you can see the huge splintered trunk. Later, I realized that the path led me right underneath a large tree leaning on another, trying to fall all the way to the ground.

Father's Day Bike Ride in Lansing -- Happy Father's Day!

Wish I could have done that.

Created by My Tracks on Android.
Total Distance: 13.86 km (8.6 mi)
Total Time: 1:28:45
Moving Time: 1:23:48
Average Pace: 6.36 min/km (10.2 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 6.05 min/km (9.7 min/mi)
Min Pace: 3.92 min/km (6.3 min/mi)
Min Elevation: 211 m (692 ft)
Max Elevation: 237 m (779 ft)
Elevation Gain: 173 m (567 ft)
Max Grade: 11 %
Min Grade: -14 %
Recorded: Sun Jun 20 20:11:16 EDT 2010
Activity type: street running

8 Miles in Lansing and East Lansing, MI

I did not post for so long, and so now no one is even reading anymore. This is all going according to my plan. Now I can finally release all of the cool tracks and adventures I saved from my trip to the west coast...all for you (me), the only reader I have left.

Also, I realized that the track distances may be somewhat inaccurate. I am not sure that successive GPS sampling points are interpolating the distance. It thinks the scatter, or "noise" is real running distance. I will investigate, see if I can tweak the MyTracks settings, and get back to you.

Run Date: June 2, 2010
Run Time: Evening

This running route is a classic. It has many segments that I know and love and run all the time. And by "love" I mean I am "sick of them" because I run them so much. Somehow, though, once I get going they are peaceful. One of the reasons is the fact that long tracks go along the river on MSU's campus. In the summertime, there is a special sight along this way. It's the set for the Summer Circle Theater, put on each June at MSU next to the river.

I haven't been to a show since 2007, so I really hope to go this year. It's a nice time.

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The location of the Summer Circle Theater is denoted by one of the markers (As usual, if you click on the marker, the associated picture pops up).

As this was a very humid evening, my sweat didn't seem to be cooling me off much. I became really really thirsty about halfway through the run. I knew that Owen hall was on my way. It had just been newly renovated. As you walk in the lobby, you see beautiful interior decorating, as well as thoughtful uses of space for entertainment, internet access, and dining. Surely there should be an easily accessible drinking fountain next to their bathrooms. And of course there was. I had to search for a while, but I finally found it.

Silly me, I didn't look in the bathroom itself until the last moment, when I became desperate.

Here is my Owen adventure, in all its georunning glory:

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At least it was some delicious water. But what water isn't delicious when you're tired, hot, and thirsty?


Total Distance: 13.10 km (8.1 mi)
Total Time: 1:17:00
Moving Time: 1:14:24
Average Pace: 5.88 min/km (9.5 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 5.68 min/km (9.1 min/mi)
Min Pace: 4.44 min/km (7.2 min/mi)
Min Elevation: 201 m (659 ft)
Max Elevation: 236 m (773 ft)
Elevation Gain: 279 m (916 ft)
Max Grade: -3 %
Min Grade: -6 %
Recorded: Tue Jun 01 20:58:42 EDT 2010
Activity type: street running

4 Miles in Royal Oak, MI

Run date: May 29, 2010
Run time: Hot sometime.

Royal Oak is a great place to run. The streets are nice and quiet, shady for the most part, and have smooth sidewalks. The people are nice and friendly, and contrary to popular belief, the smell of patchouli is not all that overwhelming. Hilary helped me decide that I should take this opportunity to make another entry into the blog. In response, I reminded her that I needed pictures to go with it. I snapped this shot right about when she was saying "Huh?"

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Oh, hey! By the way, the geotagging on the pictures is working for this post. So you can click on the marker pins to see the pictures as well as seeing them here in the text.

Downtown Royal Oak is a good place to be seen on a lazy Saturday afternoon, so naturally my running route needed to pass through there.

This is the reason I demanded that Hilary live in Royal Oak. As I ran past it, I felt guilty that I was wasting my time exercising rather than sitting inside this theatre, eating popcorn, and watching The Human Cenitpede.