Won't have no troubles 'cause the whole world is my home.

The last forty-eight hours have been a lot. We discovered on Wednesday morning that my passport will be invalid (long story) and that I needed to get a new one immediately. My love booked an appointment in Buffalo for early yesterday morning.

I drove to Buffalo Wednesday night, arrived first thing yesterday morning, applied for my passport, and then had to wait around for a few hours. So I visited Niagara Falls.

Not the Canadian side, of course. I didn't have a passport. But now I do. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:55
Pace: 9:00

So much to do, and absolutely no time. Last Wednesday my run was anxious, for a number of reasons. I have to be careful, running anxious is not good. It's bad for my back. All this driving has been hard on my knees, too.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: overcast & balmy
Mood: good!
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Weight: 160 lbs.

1980 Playlist

Goodnight Tonight - Paul McCartney

And Your Bird Can Sing - The Jam

After Dark - Andy Gibb

The Wanderer - Donna Summer

Hot Lunch Jam - Irene Cara

Turning Japanese - The Vapors 

Rapper's Delight (7" edit) - The Sugarhill Gang

The Tide Is High - Blondie

Love it when the media player serves up tunes I have never run to before!

Next up: Athens!

Niagara Falls, Ont.

Mad dash into the homestretch of summer vacation. Sigh. When the wife was at grad school in Vermont, we stopped by Niagara twice, in summer 2006 and again on New Year's Day 2007. So of course, neither of them remember it.

We arrived just before dusk, and neither of us remember it being so crowded. Of course, the Canadian side has been built up considerably since our first visit nineteen years ago.

We dined at Elements on the Falls, which takes the place of that restaurant right next to the falls, only now the food is excellent, using locally sourced ingredients. Our window was right next to the falls as the sun set and the colored lights came on so th kids were even more impressed.

On our walk back to the incline, a number of teenagers implored us to join them in Hungarian dancing. The women were game but I stood back to watch with the boy (who would not, no way) as a circle of visitors and tourists - a circle which grew over the course of two separated dances - were taught basic moves and danced to drum and some type of small reed instrument.

Distance: 4 miles
Avg Pace: 8:22
Route: Niagara Falls, Ontario

This morning the wife and I walked down to the falls to run and there is a bandstand set up in Queen Victoria Park. We saw a contingent of sikhs practicing dances as well. The mystery of the Hungarian dancers may have been solved, we believe, as we made a connection between these events and all the signs we have seen for the Pan Am Games, which are being held in Toronto.

Temperature: 70
Climate: misty
Intake: no
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: water bottle 
Stretches: walking to the falls

Do people run next to the falls? Why yes they do, plenty of them. Before 8 AM is certainly best, we completed our runs just as the crowds started to thicken. I headed off on my own, south along the Niagara River for a mile and a half, past the old power station, away from the tourist plaza, the constant rush of the river, so powerful and strong. The mist was a deeply refreshing rain.

Niagara

Distance: the circumference of Goat Island, Niagara Falls, NY (1 mile?) *
Stretches: no, but I swam around a pool holding a small child afterwards
Water: yes
Weather: f*cking beautiful
Time: 8pm

Hope to do that again tomorrow morning. The run was far too short, and how often do I get the chance to run around Niagara Falls State Park?

* 8/23 UPDATE: It was actually 2 and a quarter miles.