Day 5

This morning we ran out and back along the creek path. Back beside the river, I talked with a man there for a bit. He said that there have been eagle sightings recently, and he pointed to something that could have been an eagle sitting on a tree on the opposite bank. I couldn't get any closer to it to be sure. Nor could the guy get close enough to me; he kept stepping toward me and I kept stepping back. I didn't feel uncomfortable because I maintained a comfortable distance, but after a minute or so, I said goodbye and thanks and left. Yes, I'm new here and have yet to fully learn the local ways, but when it's just me and some random guy by the river and nobody else about outside, my space bubble expands even when my dog is with me. At this point, its radius was at least a car length. Too bad! Some lady I heard yelling on the street earlier on the run got well over a block. She was having what sounded like half a domestic dispute; she might have had a phone, but that would have been a minor detail compared to the magnitude of her disturbance. Such screamers stress the adrenal system even though they give plenty of advance notice for detours.

Ok, there are plenty of normal people here too, they're generally friendlier than I'm used to, but that's cool. I've learnt so much about the area already by talking with people; this has been much more interesting that living on post would have been. I mustn't leave the impression of my neighbourhood being full of yelling crazed people and people who want to get too close for comfort. Another lady made a big fuss over the dog "Oh, look at you, running along, just running along." He was looking pretty fine in a new bandanna. Our run was pretty late so we met more people than normal.

I managed to loosen up a bit on a downhill portion of the creek path, but I needed more of that. 3ish miles total.

EDIT: 2ish more miles today, I bought an extension cord and tested out the treadmill in the attic, and it works! It's a simple cheap one and the belt is a little loose, and the display doesn't work (maybe it needs a battery?) but the treadmill itself works! No weird sounds or smells. I ran on a slight incline--found out afterward that it is a bit adjustable by lifting up the back end and moving the back supports, and then I found out that the treadmill actually folds up. Anyway, the incline was slight, and I kept a very easy effort, just twenty minutes or so, and now I'm sitting here with legs that are gently energized. They feel kind of tingly and warm. That's what I've been missing since I got here! I need the super easy restorative runs.

Stage two is to clean the treadmill and get it downstairs somehow, probably a combo of taking it apart and asking for my husband's help. I thought about leaving it up there, but I've been dissuaded by the combo of unfinished attic dirt (some seeds and bird poop too, go figure), fiberglass insulation, having to run a long extension cord that eventually I'll trip on, and not being able to hear any music--not that I run with music, but yesterday I found and opened this Spacemonkeyz v/s Gorillaz CD that seems perfect for recovery jogs and now I'm ready to start running with music.

Our run tomorrow still has to be planned....