Mike "the steam engine"

Distance: 7ish
Time: 1:08
Temp: 31 degrees

Let's pretend that you are heading out on a trip to the east coast where the forecast for the following week is cold, cold, cold and cold. As well, you are planning to go out into the elements for a couple of runs. Do you pack a running jacket and hat or do you throw ONE long sleeve shirt into your bag and think that that will hold up to freezing temps? Guess what I packed...I'm an idiot.

So I wake up early and see that water would freeze if it were outside and I think, "OK, I'll head down to the exercise room and crank out some miles on the treadmill." However, the treadmills needed to be in service for that to occur. So I donned my single long sleeve shirt and out to the elements I went. I looked like steam engine as I ran down the road. Every breath created a white cloud around me. It was friggin COLD, but I did it. I'm sure that my face will defrost sometime around dinner tonight.

Other observations from the run:

• They say that smell is one of the most powerful senses for memory recall and I would agree. I ran around a park that had piles and piles and piles of bright red, orange, and rust colored leaves in it, and as I got close to the piles I caught the smell of those slowly decaying leaves, which, oddly enough, is a beautiful smell. I can't give it an adjective that would do that scent just. The only word that comes to mind is that is smelled like "fall" and I immediatly was pulled back to my childhood in New York and Maryland. The feeling was so strong is was almost a physical event for me. It was crazy.
• In New Jersey, pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. A plumber, white SUV, and a Mercedes all did their best to put an end to my life. In their defense, I'm sure that at least one of those drivers thought that I was completely insane and that I needed to be euthanized.
  
• The architecture is really cool out here. All the homes have very small profiles from the street, but they go back forever. I'm told that this is because of taxes. Home owners used to be taxed on the width if their foundation that bordered the street, so everyone made homes that were 10 feet wide and 100 feet long.
  

That's all for today.

Now get back to work...