Bush is Poopy

Best bumper sticker ever. I think that about sums it up, doesn't it? I mean, what else is there to say?! Really, not much. (Seen this morning on a car in the Bowdoin Field House parking lot.)

In other news, with Snowman's reduced training schedule for this week, and the fact that he is working today, I was on my own for my long run this morning. Before Snowman suggested running 12 miles today (which as noted above, didn't happen), I had penciled in a 10 mile run for the day. So, I figured I would stick with my original intent, and head out for a leisurely 10 miles before lunch. The skies were clear and the thermometer read 37 degrees when I left the field house parking lot. It was also windy. I figured I was in for a good headwind at some point along the loop, but hoped for the best. I headed down Maine Street and onto Maquoit Bay Road. At about 3 miles, I had to stop for a pee break, and managed to find a small section of bare ground beneath a few pine trees off the side of the road. Hopefully no one in the house in the field across the way looked out the window at the wrong time! Oh well. Right after my break, I saw a fox out in the middle of the road, checking out some sort of small roadkill. I was hoping he might not see me so I could get a closer look at him, but he turned and ran off into the woods. Neat sighting though!

The Maquoit Bay loop is one of the few runs from downtown Brunswick that allow you to see the ocean. As you head down the hill, one of Maine's many beautiful coastal inlets opens up before you. A few small islands are visible out in the distance before things open up to true ocean. This morning at low tide, the mud flats shimmered in the sunlight near the shore as the seagulls flew by. Beautiful. Can't beat that kind of scenery on a run!

I turned off onto Bunganuc and then, about halfway into the run, onto Casco Road. This is where the wind picked up, which isn't really surprising, as a lot of the area is open fields. Still, it was a pretty strong headwind, and I had to work a bit harder than I would have liked to keep up a good pace. Plus, no sense in going slowly into the wind. Then you're just out there suffering longer. As I turned onto Pleasant Hill Road, the wind ebbed a few times, but with all the farmland along this stretch there are a lot of open sections, and the wind was in my face pretty much until the end of the run.

The run ended in 1:28:25, which I'm pretty happy with. Despite the wind, I felt good, except for some rubbing along the arch of my foot in the last few miles. This has happened a few times before on long runs in the Asics I'm currently wearing. Nothing major, but sort of a pain. I might have to think about another brand when I get my next pair, which is going to be pretty soon. Anyway, regardless, it was a good run. Even better is that my work is done for the day and I can relax!