I didn't inhale ...

... when I was outside today since the air was so polluted. It's another Spare the Air Day in the Bay Area; unlike yesterday when the air was merely "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups," today the air in the inland East Bay is plain old "Unhealthy." Yesterday I should have limited my outdoor exertions, today I should avoid them completely. Okey dokey, I'll stay inside with my air conditioning on. Come to think of it though, doesn't my excessive use of energy for said air conditioner contribute to the unhealthy air?

Despite the inability to breathe deeply I ran 13 miles yesterday. Fine, I "ran" 13 miles yesterday. Anita and I started our run on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail at 7:00 am hoping to beat the worst of the heat. We were only partially successful; by the time we finished it was only 80 degrees instead of the 100+ that came later. The early part of the run went pretty decently except for the stretch where I aspirated an insect. It was pretty gross, trying to cough up some gnat out of my lungs.

We had a surprise visitor during the run. As I was standing on the side of the trail trying to hack up the bug, Mary Ann caught up to us. We hadn't know she was coming so we didn't wait for her at the start. Since she didn't want to run more than 8 miles we only had a short time with her before she headed back, but it's good to run with her again.

At about 6 miles out we ran past the back of my nephew's school. I was pointing it out to Anita and didn't notice the very large lump on the pavement right in front of me. My toes jammed into it, I think I went just a little airborne, my face came within about a foot of the ground and somehow miraculously I caught my balance and kept running. But I had such a huge rush of adrenaline that I felt high. Within a very short time that surge was gone and I was left with trembling legs and little energy. But at least I wasn't wiping blood off my chin!

The return run wasn't nearly as pleasant as the outbound leg. I was feeling the effects of the air, the heat, the distance and my little trip. We did more walking than I would have liked but I continued to try to push it as fast as I could. We finished hot and tired and dehydrated but feeling quite pleased with ourselves for getting it done. I guess 13 miles is still 13 miles, no matter how ugly!