Day 734 -- Kennewick

Well, I'm not quite to Kennewick, but it looks like there should be plenty of photos in the tri-cities area. (The tri-cities are Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland.) This is the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. It's apparently a reasonably new building, although I couldn't find the exact date that it opened.

I had a really hard time getting moving this morning. I really wanted to just skip my run. I had to tell myself over and over again that I would feel better if I ran. And I did run. And I did feel better. It wasn't as cold as yesterday, although it is not quite spring, yet. I ran 5 miles, with a faster mile in the middle, just to shake off a little of the rust.

Day 733 -- Walla Walla

OK, I admit it. I'm not terribly near to Walla Walla, which is a good 40 or 50 miles to the east. However, I thought that I would visit Walla Walla for several very good reasons. First of all, there is almost nothing on the map in this stretch of road, between McNary, Oregon, and Kennewick, Washington. Second, I do have friends in Walla Walla, and it would be great to visit them. (He is the pastor at Christ Lutheran Church.) Finally, it gives me a chance to plug one of my favorite kids books, Double Trouble in Walla Walla.

If you have kids, get this book. If you don't have kids, get this book. It is simply a delight to read. It's best if you read it out loud.

Four easy miles today. It was cold. The bank clock said 22 degrees, and the meteorology station at the University recorded 17 degrees at 6:00 am. There still hasn't been enough snow to drive me indoors, but pretty soon the cold is going to.

Day 732 -- Entering Washington

I don't know why I haven't run across James D. Teresco before. He has visited all 50 states, and has "Welcome to..." signs for 49 of 'em. (Apparently he hasn't been able to get one for Hawaii.) This is not the correct sign for me. It's on I-5, far to the west. But I'll take what I can get.

I did get in my long run this morning. It snowed for 10 or 15 minutes, some time in the fourth or fifth mile. It was heavy enough to start to stick, but never really built up enough to make the footing difficult. So I just kept running.

I wasn't blindingly fast, but I got in 12 miles. This was my first two-hour run since the marathon. I did a little plodding in the last four miles or so. But that's OK. I need to practice my plodding, too.

Day 731 -- McNary Dam

Somewhere in here is the McNary Dam. It's listed as being in Umatilla, which is slightly to the west of where I'm running. McNary itself is slightly to the east.

No snow, yet. It was actually 38 degrees or so when I ran this morning, but it has gotten steadily colder all day. I want to go for a long run tomorrow, but I'm worried about how cold it might be. Oh, well, worrying isn't going to have any effect.

I did a brisk four and a half this morning. I was tired, but I managed to make it through.

Day 730 -- Hermiston

When you Google for images using town names, you get a lot of hotels. I usually resist those, because they all look pretty much the same. "Look, it's the Holiday Inn in Walla Walla! Looks just like the Holiday Inn in Des Moines!" However, the Oxford Suites in Hermiston has an interesting photo. They have a "cowboy dinner package", and this covered wagon is what they use to sell it. I don't know if they have an actual covered wagon.

I hopped off of I-84 today, onto I-82. Tomorrow or the next day, I'll cross over into Washington.

It felt good to run today. I did fartleks. You runners and Swedes know that "fartlek" is Swedish for "speed play." It's a kind of informal speed workout. You warm up, then just run at varying speeds, according to how the spirit moves you. Sprint to the corner. Jog for a while. Run medium fast for three blocks. Jog for a while. Run fast up that hill. Jog for a while. It's a good workout, and a nice change of pace--literally.

They are predicting snow for the weekend, so I may or may not be able to run. We'll see.

Two Days Off

This is the second of two days off. No particular reason. Just basic laziness.

I should know better. One day off often does me some good. On the second, I get all moody and depressed and grouchy. So I've been all moody and depressed and grouchy today. Not helped by the major pile of grading that I have to do, nor by the fact that I'm not really sure what I'm going to do in one of my classes tomorrow. I've got a lot I want to do, and I'm having trouble getting it organized.

No matter what, I'm running tomorrow.

Day 729 -- Umatilla Chemical Depot

Welcome to the Umatilla Chemical Depot (formerly the Umatilla Ordnance Depot). According to the web site at globalsecurity.org, this picture shows "A Umatilla Chemical Depot employee stands in front of a storage igloo. Safely stored inside this igloo are munitions containing the nerve agent sarin (GB)." If you'll pardon me, I'm going to tiptoe quietly out of here....

I set out this morning to run about four, but ended up running over 5, on some of the worst hills in town. It was a good workout, but wearying. It was cold, but the rain didn't start until later in the morning. Once it got started, though, it kept up all day. I may wimp out and go to the gym in the morning, if it's still a cold rain. If it's sleet or snow, I'll definitely go to the gym.

Day 728 -- World Run Day

Happy World Run Day!

Last year, I went ahead and registered for World Run Day, bought the t-shirt, the whole nine yards. This year, I didn't, but I still got the benefit out of it. I turned off the alarm this morning, and sat there wondering why any sane person would get up before dawn on a cold November morning in Wisconsin to run around in circles. Then it hit me: World Run Day!

Somewhere in my 10 mile run, it occurred to me that I hadn't really answered my question. It was hardly any more sane to go running just because a bunch of other people are. I mean, it's not like they were all there helping me run. Most of them were probably running in warmer climates, or indoors, or on a treadmill.

What's with the picture? Look at that big fish! I don't even believe that's real! How do you catch something like that? I don't think that it was caught anywhere near here, but I took it from the MySpace page of Mushywaffles, who is from Boardman.

Day 727 -- Boardman Bombing Range

I'm approaching the Boardman Bombing Range, but there don't seem to be decent photos of it on the web. I wonder if that's because, well, it's a bombing range. Not much of a picnic spot, I imagine. So, since it is Day 727, how about a picture of a 727 jet?

I did take yesterday off, as planned. It was miserable weather -- cold and windy and snow flurries all day. Today wasn't much better, although there weren't snow flurries while I was out. There were occasional patches of heavy, cold mist, which was not fun. But the gym isn't open on Saturday, and I needed the exercise. I got in 5 miles, at a decent pace for an outdoor run.

Day 726 -- Ione

I'm slowly sneaking up on Boardman, my next actual landmark on I-84. Today, I have again gone off the track a little to visit Ione.

It was a real struggle to drag myself out of bed today. I finally made it, but I think I'll just sleep in tomorrow. Then, once I did get up and go out, lightning started to flash in the distance. So I went back home, hopped in the car, and drove to the gym. The lightning didn't ever get terribly close, but I didn't know that was going to happen. So, anyway, I got in 5.3 miles on the indoor track, at a pretty good pace. Running indoors is always faster than running outdoors. And it felt good. And I've earned a day off.

Day 725 -- Cecil

Still going off I-84 a little bit, just to find something to stand in front of. According to Daisha's Picassa Web Album, the population of Cecil is 7.

I ran an easy three this morning. Well, it was closer to four. It was one of those days when I just got out and ran. Not fast, but steady. It felt good. It was fairly warm, but windy. They are predicting lower temperatures, and possibly snow, by the weekend. I'll have to start running indoors before too long, I'm afraid.

Election Reflections [with Update]

I could be working, but I don't think that I can keep this bottled up inside me.

At the end of the TV series The West Wing, the country elected Matt Santos, a Latino. I remember thinking that that's all well and good in Aaron Sorkin's world, where hard work, competence, and compassion triumph over bigotry. But in the real world, we are a long way from a serious candidate of color, never mind an actual president.

I'm happy to have been wrong.

The series ended before Santos took office. We don't know how he fared, but we were left with a feeling of cautious optimism. Yes, the world is a nasty place. Yes, Santos is going to face opposition, even bigotry. But he's the best man for the job, and the country is in good hands.

That's pretty much the way I feel this morning.

On the dark side, bigotry won out in California, where they passed Proposition 8 to take away the right of gay people to marry. I suppose I should be grateful that they are defending my traditional marriage. Heaven knows that Mrs. Jogger and I would never have been married for 21 years if gay marriage had been legal in California. Our marriage has been a little rocky for these last few months, what with all those happy gay people making commitments to each other. But now that that's over with, our marriage is back on solid ground.

I know this is backlash. I believe strongly that human history is progressive, and that we will inevitably move towards a state of greater tolerance and greater equality. Someday, hopefully within my lifetime, historians will look back at the "Defense of Marriage" movement the same way we look back at Jim Crow. I just hope that we get there soon. Because it's the right thing to do.

Update: A couple of nice posts about the Prop 8 outcome by Jeff Fecke and Digby.

Days 723 and 724 -- Olex

Another big stretch of empty road lies before me. I continue to mark my virtual miles on I-84, but I slipped down highway 19, southbound out of Arlington, for this photo. At least I think I did. The town of Olex, Oregon, lies down that way, and Crestline Construction posted this photo as part of the OLEX Rock Creek Grade. So I assume it's around here somewhere.

I did get out for a short run yesterday. I could have taken the day off, but, anticipating a long day, I decided to run. And a long day it was. I gave another evening exam, so I was at school for 13 hours, nearly all of it actually working. I could be grading the exam now, but I'm not.

I also ran this morning. I went for a "tempo run," which means that I ran a mile sort of slow, then a mile a little bit faster, then a mile pretty quick, then the last mile at medium speed. Well, it turns out that "pretty quick" was pretty slow this morning. Oh, well.

Day 722 -- More Arlington

Here's a little park in Arlington, which I got from Wikipedio, el Libro Enciklopedio. I don't know what language that is. It doesn't seem like Spanish to me. Portuguese, perhaps? Interestingly, the English language Wikipedia doesn't have an entry for Arlington, Oregon.

I ran into Arlington today. No sign of the current mayor, and no clue what they look like in their underwear. The more I think about that, the more steamed I get. It's not just that they fired this mayor for stuff she did in her private life that was none of their business. It's also the inherent misogyny of the issue. Do you think the same thing would have happened if a male mayor had posted some photos of himself in dishabille? Heck no. They would have put him in their promotional material. But Mayor Kontur-Gronquist is a woman, so she's either a virgin or a whore. Since these photos don't look very virginal, she must be a whore. I'm sure that the people of Arlington were pleased that their mayor was a pretty young lady. But as soon as she showed the slightest sign of being a sexual being, she was out on her ear!

I ran 7.7 miles today, my first run of over an hour since the marathon. I wasn't exactly sprightly by the end, but I was still running. That was my only goal.

Day 721 -- Arlington

I won't be to Arlington until tomorrow, but as I keep saying, there's not much out here, so I went ahead and plopped myself into this photo of the Village Inn Motel, from Epinions.com. Not really exciting, but I thought maybe it would be a bad idea to plop myself into the most common photo when you Google "Arlington, Oregon":


This is the former mayor of Arlington, Carmen Kontur Gronquist. (Some sources hyphenate the second and third names, and some don't.) She is the former mayor because of these photos. She had posted them on her MySpace page before she ever became mayor. She was mayor for three years, when someone in the city government dug them out, and decided that she was not projecting the proper image of a small town mayor. Sorry, Carmen, thanks for the hard work, but don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. The people of Arlington (at least some of them) are idiots.

I ran four miles today. It was fun. I didn't set a route, I didn't worry about time. I just got out and ran.

Day 720 -- Jogger's Progress

	Trip	YTD	Oct
Distance	4360.4	1334.4	103.7
Time	27 days, 22 hrs, 42 min	10 days, 3 hrs, 47 mins	18:40
Days	720	206	16
States	16	3	1

Well, I did get out and run today. I even picked up the pace a little, and ran 4.6 miles in 46 minutes. It felt really good. I've been tired and cranky lately, and I think at least part of it is lack of exercise. I want to get back in the habit of getting out nearly every day.

It's been a fairly easy month, except for that one day. Sixteen days ties last December for the lowest number of days run in a month, and 103 miles is my lowest total since February. But of course, there was a marathon in there, which means it was hardly a slack month. I'll try to get out more days and put in more miles in November. And I expect to be running into Washington this month, adding another state to the total.

I voted

I voted today. Wisconsin is one of the states that is still being contended, so we get lots of good political ads. Now they will all be wasted, as far as I'm concerned. Actually, they were all wasted anyway. There wasn't much chance that I was going to change my mind, and if I did, it wouldn't be because of a 30 second TV spot. It's actually kind of distressing to think that such things matter! But of course, I'm not the first or the last person to notice that.

Day 719 -- Fishing

Still pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so I thought I'd throw in a generic billboard for Erik's World Class Fishing Adventure. His web site says to "Honk next time you see one of our billboard ads along the I-5 freeway in Washington and Oregon." Oops. I'm not on, or even near, I-5. My bad. Ignore this billboard.

I took the last two days off, for no better reason than because I can. I don't have a schedule, and I'm sticking to it.

I had a good run today. I'm pretty much over feeling sore. I can walk up and down stairs, ride my bike, no problem. Except for actual running. By the end of 4.2 miles, my legs were feeling it. I need to build back up. But slowly.

Day 718 -- Blalock Canyon

Mapquest shows the town of Blalock on the road between Rufus and Arlington, but according to GhostTowns.com, Blalock has been underwater since they built the John Day Dam near Rufus. I can't find anything to contradict that, nor can I find any pictures of Blalock, so I thought that I would settle for this photos of Blalock Canyon, which I got from Eli's Blog. Presumably, if Blalock is under the river, it's at the bottom of Blalock Canyon.

I thought I'd also put myself in the foreground, so you could get a good look at my new shirt.

I managed five miles today. It was windy, and the wind was mostly in my face the second half of the run. But it has gotten much more windy this afternoon. There's actually a wind advisory out. I may or may not run tomorrow, depending on the weather. Isn't that great? Since I'm not training for anything, I don't have to run if I don't feel like it!

Day 717 -- New Jogger

I've had that same cutout of me for over a year, since right after the Quad Cities Marathon. So, it's definitely time for a new one. This is me in my Des Moines Marathon shirt. Get used to it. You'll be seeing it for a while.

And what am I standing in front of? This is the motor home that Dennis and Betty Johnson took on their Journey of Discovery. It is parked somewhere near Rufus, which is where I am running.

Today, I did a brisk four miles. I didn't sleep well last night, and I'm pretty sure that what I've been missing is my run. So it felt good.