Those who risk, win: Where the streets have no name.

And also no sidewalks apparently. Yesterday I went for a run around this area, which I rarely do. I don't know, something about running from the house makes me incredibly lazy. It's like I know that the house is right there, so I don't bother. At least if I drive somewhere, I've put in the effort to get there, so there's no point in not running. Plus, then I have to run the route and get back to the car to get back home. A lot of steps, sure, but it usually works better for me. Unfortunately I was super tight on time yesterday, so I had to run when I had the chance, which ended up being only enough time to run around here. So I decided to try and find a nice route and get in 6 miles. Basically I just crossed the street and followed the sidewalk up the main road. Unfortunately the sidewalk ended after about a mile and I was left with only street running. Which would be OK if they were little side streets, but all I could find were busy roads. I'm not saying that cars were flying past like I was running down a state highway, but there were enough cars coming to make me not want to be running without sidewalks. Plus there were a lot of curves and blind spots, so I had to really be on the lookout. It's a good thing I never wear both headphones when I run. I'm not sure I understand people who do actually. How can you go out running and not be able to hear what's going on around you? That's just asking for trouble.

So clearly I didn't get hit by any cars and I made it back home fine, but I just didn't love the route. It's not that I love running on sidewalks anyways, but I certainly would choose a sidewalk over a road when there's cars driving by! Is it too much to ask for cities and towns to put sidewalks in anyways? After all, it's 2016, why aren't there more sidewalks? I don't know what the year has to do with that, but I assume that sidewalks were invented to keep people off streets, so at this point in time, it seems like they should be pretty much everywhere. I'd even take a one side of the road sidewalk over nothing. But at this point I feel like I've used the word sidewalk far more than I ever wanted, so I'll just wrap that up now.

I almost forgot to update you on my trail running shoes. Good thing I went back and checked! I did get my shoes last week, they arrived on Tuesday night. If I didn't mention it, the shoe is the Reebok All Terrain Super. First things first, they are so light that I really wasn't sure Dick's got my order right when I picked up the box they were shipped in. It seriously felt like it was empty. Of course it wasn't and the shoes were everything I hoped they would be. In fact, they might be a little too serious for Lynn Woods running. The shoes have the most aggressive tread I've ever seen. Picture a cleat and you'll have the bottom of my shoe. However, the upper part is super thin but also probably good for water drainage/absorption. Hopefully I won't have to test that much, but it looks like it might be good for that.

So I wore the shoes on the Wednesday night run even though it was the basic main trail gate to gate run. Of all the runs to break the shoes in, this might not have been the best choice simply because this trail is so worn in. There wasn't a lot of off road running, but there was a lot of kicking up rocks and gravel. I can only hope that the people who were close to me weren't getting hit with all sorts of flying debris. Aside from that though, the shoes were nice and the run was good. I think the shoes will work out fine for the rest of the season, especially on the Tours and the Dam run.

Other than that we've been having a super lazy Sunday after a super busy Saturday. We've been watching the ESPN 30 for 30 about O.J. Simpson and it is fascinating. We're up to the final part but I've learned so much more. Being only 10 when it happened, of course I don't remember/didn't know the more gruesome parts as well as the science and evidence behind the case. All I really remember is the Bronco "chase" and the not guilty verdict. Mostly I just remember being in middle school. All the teachers had their radios on daily and finally one day while I was in my English class, another teacher opened the door, yelled not guilty, and walked away. I think he walked away, but I could be remembering that last part wrong. So it's been interesting to see this story, to hear all the details, and to hear what the people involved have to say about it now. I recommend watching it if you haven't yet. It's also far better than the show FX had going. Sometimes the documentary is much better than a recreation.

I think that's it for now. I'll leave you with some pictures from the week.