Tonight I decided to run at the Y. It was actually a pretty nice night, weather-wise, so I almost ran in the neighborhood instead. But I guess I was worried about mosquitos or swallowing a bug, so I made the three-minute drive to the gym.

Sometimes I prefer running on the treadmill at the gym. It’s pretty entertaining most of the time. There are lots of distractions such as multiple tv’s, the statistics on the treadmill panel, and of course all the other people there getting their workouts in. Unless there is a good ballgame on ESPN, I will just crank up my iPod and just zone out and run.

I had my iPod Shuffle all ready with a Zard playlist and was eager to see if it was good running music. I had figured it would be, but you never know. It all depends on your mood at the time too. But it was perfect for tonight, and I ended up running six miles at just under a 10-minute/mile pace. I felt really good. There were no aches or pains, and I had no problem with motivation. I guess the music kept me going. Sometimes I just get too bored though, and cut the run short.

One of the advantages of running outdoors is that you never get bored. There is always something to look at, and you have to keep your attention focused on the sidewalk and intersections. Plus, the elevation is pretty varied in my neighborhood, which makes for an interesting run. I think I am pretty lucky with the neighborhood we live in because there isn’t too much traffic and the sidewalks are really wide. Plus there are lots of trees and you can see horses, cows, deer, and other critters in the fields. There aren’t a whole lot of other runners, though. I think the most I have seen during a run was four.

You know, I am glad I started running again last year. It’s really rewarding, physically and mentally. I used to have lots of fun running when I worked at UCLA, but since then, I haven’t run so much. But now I think it is something I want to keep doing, and it is cool because it is not something that you have to really “get into”. Just go with the flow, I guess! If you want to race, go for it, if you want to do easy runs, do that. 🙂