Cowboys on Beaches

Workout: 5 miles, 9:52 average

I finally did it. Cut loose the chain. Ran without Bailey. I wish I could say it was rough and that I felt just awful the entire time, but I didn't. Not at all. I was too happy to be running on my own to think about it much. And despite taking it pretty easy, my stats were noticeably faster than usual. I felt so free!

I went back to the wonderful (but short) single track I discovered months ago. I run in this area all the time but never make the detour because it doesn't last that long and turning around again and again would mess my groove up (that makes sense, just trust me on this).

Oh sutro, you handsome filter, you

Oh, here it is again. How'd that get in there? This time with a little x-pro action.

I kind of felt like an old crickety rocking chair initially, but I seemed to loosen right up after a mile or so.

After my run, I took a shower in the locker room at school and was treated to a delightful conversation between a bunch of little girls there for swim practice. My favorite moment was when they were trying to figure out where Mexico is. I would have told them what's up, but I didn't want to come off as that half-naked creepy old lady eavesdropping on the little 'uns. Let's hope our crumbling education system sets them right.

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I've started doing semi-regular ab work. It's nothing spectacular and it won't get me a six-pack, but the fact that 50 crunches is almost more than I can bear tells me I need it. My issue is that I'm always telling myself I need to do a 15-30 minute ab routine and build it up in my head all day ("It's going to hurt so much!!"), and then when it comes time to do it I get overwhelmed and do nothing instead. Well, I decided to take a leaf out of this girl's book and started doing a small amount every day. I find that once I do 50 crunches, I can usually muster up the courage to do another set. So there's that.

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On a random music note (see what I did there?), I shocked myself by turning the country station on early in the day (it was a pre-set when I bought the car and I often turn it on when the others are on commercial) and keeping it there for the entire day. I know, who am I? I always thought I hated country music, but apparently I don't. I guess I just appreciate that you can actually hear the vocals. Also, what's with the "cowboy on the beach" sub-genre? There seem to be a lot of those songs floating around. They make me laugh.

Tomorrow's a rest day and then on Saturday I've got ten miles on the docket. It's shaping up to be a high-for-me mileage week, with 27 miles.

I've decided to copy everyone else and make my blog less hostile by asking you questions. Here are today's:

• What kind of ab work do YOU do?
• What overheard conversation made YOU laugh recently?
• Thoughts on single track? Country?