MeSoFun Blog

What? What are we doing? Shouldn't you be paying attention to driving? It's not often I have a car to drive around. It's also not often one is missed. Portland has almost everything I could want. There are amazing restaurants, good friends, a baseball park, grocery stores and my place of employment within easy walking distance of our home. What it does not have is places you can go for long runs in the woods. This is the failing of just about every major metro city, with the exception of Salt Lake City. When The Wife and I were preparing to leave Utah, we rented a little one-bedroom place next to the state capitol. In an easy five-minute jog, I could drop down into a canyon trail and be lost to civilization pretty quickly. That kind of access is unique. That kind of access also requires living under the laws passed under that state capitol dome, but we won't get into that because your head might explode. (OK, fine. A little aside: You can't show up in a restaurant (

Do not talk to me immediately after I finish a run. I really don't want to talk to you. Though normally pleasant in conversation, that all changes after an hour or two of running in solitude. Many runners enjoy their workouts, look forward to them, even. I am not one of those people. I don't have any action shots, so you get this disturbing picture from after a run. After the first half mile of a run, the voices in my head are downright nasty. All I can hear is absolute garbage: This is all a waste of time. You're soooooo out of shape. You're soooooo slow. You're just going to have a huge meal later anyway. What's the point. My God, you just got passed by a woman pushing a stroller. You're stopping for a break NOW? It's only been 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 miles! And it just goes on like that, mile after mile. The thoughts are your worst gremlins, let out to play by your increased heart rate. Maybe your better angels are busy keeping your legs moving during a run a