A Weird Week, Cont.

(posting off of an IPad makes things hard. You can't go back into the post unless you don't want to finish the rest of it!)

I had been talking about how smart I was.

Yes.

So smart, my butt and calves still hurt a bit on Friday.

But, after sitting on a plane for 5 hours, I had to stretch my legs.

So the Vivacious Redhead and I jogged out of the hotel in Birmingham into the sun and warm(er) temperatures.

Almost immediately, the top of my left hamstring, right below my rear, started twinging. Badly.

I ignored it.

Smart.....
I had also forgotten to pack a pair of running tights that I liked, that fit well.

Too optimistic about the daily highs in Alabama, I neglected the lows and the time of the race. And my mind had also been elsewhere, in a serious melancholy due to major errors I had made earlier in the week.

I forgot to pack a lot of things!

A 30 minute run helped on some of the aches and pains and reminded Nevsky I like Birmingham so much.

Empty sidewalks, crumbling art deco facades, evidence here and there of optimism and revitalization.

And the hills. Oi. Those will be fun today!

Yesterday, another run after going to the expo.a run in search of a grocery.

We could cash checks, get drunk, get religion and get our non-existent car fixed.

But we couldn't find groceries!

A short jaunt turned into a 45-minute exploration as we searched. More drinking, religion and car repair presented themselves to us at every turn, on every corner.

But no grocery!

We finally found a small grocery near the 'hipster' coffee shop. One that clearly was a part of the revitalization project.

And one that, while it had retro pepsi, made with real sugar, it still didn't have a single fruit or vegetable!

Sigh. Ah well. That's why we bought dried cranberries and prunes earlier in the trip.

That was, in fact, smart!

Off to an enriching but exhausting day with the Vivacious Redhead's parents and niece and nephews and older brother and wife.

Whew.

I was out by 8:30pm.

Now, for the 'race'. Not even nervous: I'm not going for anything and know I don't have a p.r. in me. Not even close.

We will see! Think I'm going to run the whole thing with the Vivacious Redhead.

As long as I can keep up!