I took the afternoon off on Tuesday to got to Frankfort.  My wife had made the trip to the state capitol last week to get the necessary seals for our adoption paperwork.  China requires certifications for the required documents as opposed to apostilles.  We initially received apostilles, but found out only after sending the paperwork via FedEx overnight to D.C. at great expense that we should have gotten certifications.  This is our fourth time through the China paper chase and each time there are new documents or variations in the process.  So back came the documents and it was now my turn to head to Frankfort. 

Until Tuesday I had not been to Frankfort and have only been to Louisville a few times, but I knew there were other parks and trails in the Frankfort/Louisville area.  If I was going to take the day off from work to make the trip I figured that was a good excuse to also find a trail run in the area.  A quick search turned up Capitol View Park conveniently located along my route.  The trial map on the site was too small to be of much use, but I found a larger version on another site. 

After getting the certifications on the paperwork I took them to a nearby FedEx office and sent them on their way.  Then it was time to run.  I found the park on the East West Connector and parked at the kiosk.  From there I followed the notes on the trail map that direct you to proceed through the parking lots to “The First Section”.  I actually overshot that trailhead and ended up heading down the double track and hoping onto the section of trail that runs along the upper perimeter of the map.  I went to the right and found myself on the abandoned railroad bed that took me back to the kiosk.  Realizing what I had done, I simply turned around and retraced my steps, moving counterclockwise as suggested.  After a full circuit of the park I grabbed a quick drink and bite at the car and ran clockwise this time, skipping the long loop that runs behind the library building.  I picked up the trailhead of “The First Section” this time around.  All told I covered about 12 miles of great trail under a blue sky.

If you go note that the trails are marked better in some areas than others.  Also, there a few details like side trails and intersections not included on the map so you may have to feel your way along, exploring, to make sure you’re on the main course if want to get the full mileage out of the park.  That’s part of the fun though.

As I’ve mentioned before my wife and I bought a treadmill early last December.  So far I love it.  Without it I would never have been able to keep any sort of training regimen with the shortening daylight hours and lowering temperatures through the winter.  We made our purchase at the local Dick’s Sporting Goods.  I know one of the managers there from church, and he let me use his friend’s and family discount when the sale rolled around.  That saved us about 20% and allowed us to get a much better machine than I thought we could (read: spend more than I thought my wife would let me.  Thanks, Honey).  Of course in purchasing said treadmill we used that card that a lot of these big chain stores have.  Best Buy has one too.  You know, where if you purchase $5000 dollars of stuff in a year they’ll send you a certificate for $5.  I’m exaggerating but not by much.  I did the math on the Best Buy one once and it works out to a 2% rebate.  I’m not sure what the percentage is on the Dick’s version, but it’s pretty close.  Still, a treadmill added up to a lot of points and sure enough in late January we got a certificate worth $40.  That’s when the trouble started.

Truth be told $40 is $40, even if you have to spend it by the end of February to prevent if from not being $40 anymore.  So what do you do with $40?  Shoes of course.  A runner always needs shoes.  Brooks Trance?  Sure, but Dick’s charges more for them than everyone else.  Asics DS Trainer 14?  Nope, but they’ve got the 13.  In the store?  No, online.  Hmm.  Asics Hyper Speed?  I need racing flats.  No.  Brooks racing flats?  No.  Any racing flats?  Not really.  Shorts!  A runner always needs shorts.  I’m the old school type that likes the ones where the front panel overlaps the back panel.  Nike makes them.  Dicks caries Nike, right?  Well they do and they don’t.  You see where I’m going with this. 

I can’t expect Dick’s to be John’s Run Walk Shop, or Omega Sports, or Phidippides or any of the other places that end up being running’s equivalent of Cheers.  And to be honest, I don’t want them to.  Big box stores are about getting a good price on a treadmill and some orange cones to mark an Ultimate field.  When I need the next larger sized ball and cleats for the start of kids’ soccer season, I go to the big box.  But when I want to feel the difference in fit between an Asics Hyper Speed and a Brooks T6 Racer I’ll head to John’s.  And while I’m there I’ll probably linger and talk about running with people who love to run.

Long live the specialty running shop.

At some point in August the shortening day or the lowering angle of the sun or just a cooler breeze rings a bell in the back of my head.  It happens each year and I find myself thinking about coursing down a trail.  Other times I'm taking quick, smooth strides along a sidewalk under the changing foliage of old oaks and maples.  Some of these thoughts are daydreams and some are memories, but they are all good.  In years past during these times I've found myself drawn to the local running shoe store, but I haven't gone in.  This year I did.  And it is good.

I started running in high school.  I remember the panic I felt at the first cross country practice.  The previous spring we had been required to run a mile on the track during gym twice a week.  I was one of the few that actually tried to do it without stopping.  Four laps later I was done, and the big, dumb jock that had kicked my foot off of the bench while I was tying my shoe in the locker room was still a lap behind.  I hoped that this meant something.  Just trying to keep the others in sight during the warm-up for that first practice made me doubt.  I can't figure out why I kept running.  I ran more during my one and only football practice and turned in my helmet the next day. 

For whatever reason I kept going through high school and college.  I took up cycling along the way, both road and mountain.  I loved them both, but I've had a special relationship with running.  After getting married and adding kids I stopped running for longer than I like to admit.  I stayed active and played a lot of Ultimate, but this year when I heard that bell I gave in to my conditioning.  Now I've retired that pair of shoes I bought in August and am well into another one.  I never was all that fast, and I'm even slower now, but it's good to be back.