And I ran. I ran ... so far away.

Bay Days 5 Mile Run
Official time: 37:01.9
Place in divison: 21
Place overall: 178
Pace: 7:24

Pre-Run Warm-Up Playlist:
Oblivious - Aztec Camera
Obsession - Animotion

Run Playlist:
Situation - Yazoo
It's My Life - Talk Talk
The Glamorous Life (Club Edit) - Sheila E
Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of Seagulls
Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) - Haircut 100
Someday, Someway - Marshall Crenshaw
Down In The Cockpit - XTC
Maniac - Michael Sembello

Post-Run Cooldown Playlist:
Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo

The Bay Village five miler is generally the most boring and awful race. It's a flat sludge through uninteresting suburbia and, most years, really hot and bright with no shade anywhere. This year it was blessedly overcast and not so humid.

So why return? Because it's home, I guess.

I don't have the opportunity to do this run every year, sometimes I am out of town, or it's just inconvenient. I know no one here, expect an English teacher I had, Mr. Knapp, it's always good to find him before the run. He's easy to spot, I just look up, the man is nine feet tall.

Taking a warm-up run I look around at the familiar/bizarre surroundings. Really? This is exactly where I found my bike after it had been stolen and run over by someone's truck? I made out with Wendy on that bench - did I? Or was that someone else? Where does that doorway go? Can't remember. Were we smoking pot by this fence or that one? Why can't I remember ...

Oh. Right.

The run itself becomes disorienting after the first turn and I forget where the hell I am. But I was definitely on Bates. Word up to your old house, Admiral. And to the rock star next door.

Not a great time. I started slowing after three miles, getting very hot and weary, not winded. I thought I could pour it on during the last quatert mile, make up a few seconds, but due to construction, there were a number of narrow turns through the homestrecth, and the last tenth we were virtually going single file. Then the guy in front of me starts slowing down before the clock. If I had it in me I would have yelled at him to get over, but I was stymied. I guess he wanted an even 37 minutes. What a dork.