The drawbacks of road running

I love to run, don't get me wrong. Running on nice trails in the forest would be ideal, but unfortunately for me and a lot of people, we don't live in a forest. What I am left with is road running. I actually live in an area that has very runner-friendly sidewalks, including one around the Hillsboro airport that is double wide and has a nice row of trees in between the road and the sidewalk. I like to think of the trees as a buffer between my shins and car bumpers. There are however, some drawbacks to road running. The first has to be the car pollution. I am not a rocket scientist, but I don't think it can be that healthy for me to be gasping in air so close to all those exhaust pipes. Sometimes I hit areas where the stench of car exhaust is overwhelming. I try not to think about it, but I want to hold my breath like when the homeless guy sneezes on the crowded bus. Argh.

And then of course there are the dead things, of all shapes sizes and smells. If I had a dime for every squirrel that appears to have slipped while doing the high wire act over the road… I’d be rich. The ordors coming from the bushes are even worse… and they don’t go away over night… oh no… I have to run by them day after day until the smell finally fades away.

Another thing I don’t like is waiting to cross at intersections. Sure it is nice to stretch and take a breather, but after that is done and there is nothing but you and lines of cars waiting for the light to change… well… it is just awkward. It seems like I am checking my watch and staring at the pedestrian walk sign for years. I feel like those people who stand at the bus stop and stretch their next to peer further down the street to see if the bus is coming, like somehow if they see it… it will get there faster than if they don’t.

Near the end of one of my running routes is a hill… not a huge hill… but I can’t get up it at full speed yet. At the bottom of the hill cars are backed up over ¼ of a mile waiting to get through the light which for some sick reason will only let a few cars through at a time. I think I have seen it change from green to red before I crossed the intersection in my Jeep before. Anyway… I have to suck wind up that hill right next to the long line of impatient drivers trying to get home from work, and I am sure it doesn’t please them any that I will make it up the hill and home faster than they will.

Everything else about running I love I think. Well… sucking down a bug during a run isn’t fun either… or catching one in the eye… but everything ELSE I love.

Really.

I ran 7:55 miles today. Yahoo!