Running in (Various) Places

It's been a while, hasn't it?  In truth, I had a post partially written in early April.  Then my computer gave out on me midway through updating the Road Lizards page and the past 6 weeks have been pretty crazy.  I don't know where I was going with that last post really.  So, we'll just leave it in drafts.
Like I said it's been a hectic 6 weeks for me.  At the end of April, I met up with Mila to spend some time with family in Panama.  It was roughly 8732% humidity and I only ended up running once.  Don't y'all worry though, I took runpics for the blog.
I went on a 3 mile easy run, catching up to my father in law on his morning walk to "his office."  (He gets together with a group of retired guys at a shopping center most days.)  He let me know that I could follow the main road all the way to the airport if I wanted, changing my planned route.

The new train line that was recently finished.  

The humidity was incredibly high, so i just took my time.  There's a lot of traffic on that road but very little on the sidewalk, thankfully.  Of course, I got some odd looks.  But, that's to be expected.

a little river I went over

Panama has a lot of natural beauty.  I just HATE how the people tend to treat it.  It's hard to see in that picture, but the curve in the river has trapped a large amount of trash and the bridge is hiding a mattress laying in the water.  It detracts from otherwise beautiful views.

I thought these guys went out with the new Metro bus line a few years back!  These are the famous "diablos rojos" public transit buses.  Many of them used to be U.S. school buses that have been pimped out.  There's typically a "pavo," a young guy hanging out the door yelling out the route to try and attract customers.  They were hot, crowded, and sticky, but only 25 cents!

I saw an iguana on my way back

I shoulda run more since this is what was waiting for me when I got out of bed every morning

post run rest and relaxation

Although I didn't run any more on the trip, we DID take a trip to an island conservatory named "Isla Iguana" (Iguana Island).

we had to take one of these little boats out to the island, about a 20 minute trip

"hey why's it called Iguana Island? ... oh.... I get it"

Texas in Panama?

the crab kept "coming at me, bro" 

looking across the Pacific back towards the mainland

Literally 6 hours after landing in San Antonio, I flew out of San Angelo (about 210 miles between the airports) for a work trip.  I got in a bit of running during the time but didn't get pictures.
I was home for about four days after that trip, this time taking off for my brother Andy's bachelor party.  Scott and I got in a nice 3 mile run around his neighborhood.  No, I didn't get pictures of that but the route was nice.  Too bad the path by his house isn't longer though.
We ended up renting a cabin in the woods for Andy's bachelor party.  I DID get a couple pictures of that.

view of the Muskegon river off the back balcony

front view of the house

Afterward, Andy, Alex, Jarred, and I got breakfast and I ended up at Andy and Amy's for the night (GoT finale!)
After being home for three days, I finally got my deviated septum fixed.  I'm not exactly sure when it became deviated, the doctor said likely sometime during martial arts, but it's also possible that I could have been born like that too. 

I wore the mask for a couple of days

I barely left the couch for over a week, watching 14 James Bond movies and a couple seasons of Parks & Recreation in the process.  I wasn't allowed to work out for 10 days, but I was able to help out at the Road Lizards' Run in the Sun 8k. 

"helping" at packet pickup the night before (photo credit: Dennis Hall)

Kent, Mike, and Mark course marking at 6 am

This year's race had to go around a childrens' fishing tournament so we had a bit of a cross country section.  Last year's race was in 100+ heat.  This year was way better, around 75.  Jon wasn't able to run either, so he grabbed Jammie's camera and took pics while I worked the old school hand timers. (all picture credits go to Jon and Jammie Preiser)

anyone got a good caption for this one?

supervising Daniela and Jammie during registration

Jon got about 60 pics of me, this was his favorite

they did well with these medals

Jon needed a model to see where he should take pics

Go!

Oh hi Dennis

you too Jammie

practicing with the handheld timers

The champ!  She finished in 32:27 and that's a sweet Dragon's Den shirt

This little game wasn't far behind, coming in at 33:06

a San Angelo running stalwart, Jerry Roach

Mike and Robin sprinting to the finish

this guy had a great kick!

no se

brus

volunteer crew

Mark just HAD to use his selfie stick

We went to the traditional IHOP post race brunch and Dennis presented Mike and Kent their RRCA volunteer awards.

My nose still hasn't healed completely, but I can actually breathe!  I doubt that I'll be running much better, but it sure improves my quality of life.  Sunday was my last day of convalescent leave and I left for Monterey on Monday.  (I wrote about last year's short trip to Monterey here)
This time, I was there with a few co-worker friends and was due to spend more time in the city.  Instead of 36 hours, I'd have something like 96!  I ended up running twice, fitting them in between meetings and the group going out to eat.  Most of the group had not been to Monterey for nearly a decade and they wanted to live through their nostalgia.  We did a lot of the tourist things and ate a LOT of good food.  Yes, we hit up Chipotle since San Angelo doesn't have one.
After work Tuesday, I went on a 4 mile easy run.  There is a path that goes close to the ocean for at least 5 miles.  It goes further, just not sure how much.  Of course, it was Monterey weather, so low 60s.

a view of the path

I wonder where these lead

oh... that's where

had to at least get my toes in the water

Thursday was set to be an early day for me, but not early enough to appreciate the aquarium.  (it closes at 5 pm every day) So, I decided to go for a run and search for sea lions.  Cody and I noticed that we hadn't heard any all week.  I also wanted some ice cream.

went up Franklin to start.  There's the steepest section of it behind me

I made it 15 minutes before closing

Cannery Row

it doesn't show well, but that's a sea otter out there doing sea otter things

I found one!

he didn't deign to acknowledge me

got that ice cream

We had a great time and actually made some important connections.  But, you don't care too much about that, right?  Here are some other sights of our time in Monterey.

I wondered why it cost $9 then couldn't finish it

these were ALL good

A couple of the nice cars I saw

I was on a James Bond kick so I had to seek out the Aston Martins

Since coming back from Monterey, I'm working on getting back into shape.  I'm looking at a 5k on June 22nd, the Southland Shuffle 6 miler in August, and Shannon's Pink Ribbon Run in October.  Not sure if I'll be doing any other races but I'll be training, that's for sure.  How have your last 6 weeks been?