A Potential Week of Running OUTSIDE

 

Oh!  My friend Pat also commented on my post from Tuesday, and I unfortunately did not see it until later in the day on Wednesday!  Pat added insight into my pipe deciding process.  I can admit I am no closer to any sort of decision at the moment.  But, Pat's reminding me of Dr. Bruner and his psychological theories stirred pleasant memories.  It may surprise some, but as a biologist who is focused on endocrine and neural physiology, I have a deep appreciation of much psychology research and theory.  Bruner's ideas are very creative and strong.  And, I do, of course attribute that at least IN PART to his being a pipe smoker.  And, as Pat mentioned, Bruner did smoke his pipe his entire life..... which was a THREE DIGIT lifespan.  It is food for me to think about, for certain.  

We have had an awfully damn surprising surge in temperatures for this latter part of February.  ALL of this week has been mostly above freezing, except today.  But, tomorrow we will again be experiencing robustly warm weather.  For most of the week, we have had temperatures in the 50s and even 60s!  It is amazing and not NORMAL February weather.  

I can say that as of this morning, ALL THE SNOW we had is MELTED and GONE!  Good riddance!

There is a potential that I may actually be able to venture out of doors for my runs again.... perhaps I may even attempt it tomorrow.  It will probably be only ~35-38 degrees (2-3 C) at that time when I run in the early morning, but it is not FREEZING and there will be no ice!!!!!

Transitioning from track (and when unavoidable, treadmill) running to outdoor running actually has some challenges.  I can and do run more "freely" when outside.  By this I mean, my gait is a bit longer.  This leads to some muscle soreness for a few days.  Also, I do not have to pay as absolute close attention because MOST of the time I am running in a straight line.  On the track, I am having to turn every 15-20 seconds, and I have to have a beady eye on the other folks on the track as well.  Most everyone EXCEPT ME is there to walk.  And, a sizable number of the folks DO NOT read the signage that states rather clearly that runners should use the OUTSIDE lane and walkers should use the INSIDE lane.  This sizable number of folks just kind of meander every which way between the lanes depending apparently on only a whim.  So, I have also be extremely alert and focused to continually dodge around and between those folks who do not believe in signs. Outside, there are so many fewer folks and there is no circular track... just a path.... that I can run miles in basically a straight line.... and I can drift into my thoughts and imagination better, with a far less "focused" eye and mind on dodging around and turning every damn moment.  

I have plenty of dreams that are both aural and visual.  But, do you ever have a dream that is olfactory or gustatory?  I have, though not all that often.  But, last night, I had an extremely vivid gustatory olfactory dream where I was smoking a beautifully thick and chalky bowlful of Iwan Ries "Three Star Blue" and in the dream, I was tasting and smelling the beautiful nuttiness of the burley, and the fruit essences, which have aspects of melon and citrus.  Purely olfactory I was also experiencing the hint of the flowery essence of what is almost close to a hint of lilac.  In my dream, the pipe tobacco also had just a hint of the flavor of latakia as well, which I do not remember noting with the bowlful in Chicago, so that may be a bit of flight of fancy in my dream.  This dream had rather minimal visual or auditory components, but was almost exclusively olfactory and gustatory.  It was an oddly satisfying dream, and one that would be fun to have on occasion.  I only wish I could steer dreams towards a goal type.  

PipeTobacco