Jim and I had a long run scheduled this morning, so we dutifully went off in the rain. It varied from a gentle mist to a heavy rain all morning, but we slogged through it. We were soaked within the first mile or two, and we both gave up on dodging puddles after the first mile.

We were scheduled to do 20 miles. Jim suggested we go further south than we normally do, to break up the run a little more evenly (normally, we go 25 minutes south and back, and then the remainder would be north). I agreed and was excited by running in a new area. Until we got to the “poo plant.” About a half mile from where we normally turn around is Akron’s sewage-treatment plant. Jim had warned me in the past that some days it could smell, but I figured it would be okay in the rain because I thought the rain would “scrub” the air. Boy, was I wrong. The place reeked to the point where we were gagging so badly that we had to turn around. So, our foray south was only a total of 20 minutes in each direction. Maybe next time.

Somewhere in the middle of the run it suddenly dawned on me that were were probably carrying 4 or 5 extra pounds from waterlogged clothes and shoes. Otherwise, I’m not sure how rain affects long runs. I generally have a good time running in the rain, but usually I’m not running 20 miles in it. I’m not sure if the body can cool down with the rain. The rain feels good, but I’m not sure it can evaporate to cool the skin. At any rate, I started to have trouble with my legs feeling tired around mile 15, and at mile 19, I had to let Jim go; I could not keep the pace anymore. I walked about 100 yards and then jogged it in for the last mile. All in all, I ran 19 miles at an 8-minute pace, and then put in about a 10-minute pace for the last mile to finish around 2:42.  I was happy with that.

We burned about 3,000 calories during the run, so when Jim offered me half a banana, I did not refuse it. Normally, I am not a banana fan, but this one tasted really, really good.

Next Saturday’s run should be easier since the half-marathon is two weeks away. My guess is we’ll go 8-10 miles, but maybe Jim will want to go the whole 13. Either way, it is a sight easier than 20 miles in the rain.

Mer and I really like David Tennant, the classically-trained actor who is the current Doctor in the BBC show Doctor Who. It turns out that David is staring in Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company (with Patrick Stewart as Claudius). We *really* wanted tickets since we had free airline tickets to London, but the production is sold out. As an anniversary treat, we bought the promotional poster and had it framed. We picked it up yesterday, and I’m really happy with how it came out. I suspect I’ll have to hide it when Jo comes to visit….

Yesterday was “my” Saturday. I spent the morning running with Jim, and then got cleaned up. Mer and I then ran a few errands and got home about 2:00. I decided to give our friends Zach and Londa a call to see if they wanted to go out that night. I got a hold of Zach on his cell phone; he was grading papers at Rico Latte, and he was pretty enthusiastic about going out to my suggested restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory. He checked with Londa, and all was well, so we agreed to meet at our house at 4:00. That worked well, because it gave me a chance to get in a nap. But at 4:00, we all piled into Zach and Londa’s car, and we headed north to Legacy Village where the Cheesecake Factory is located.

We had a great time chatting. Zach is a wonderful storyteller, and things just seem to happen to him, and he has no problem sharing them. Zach also works at CVCA, so that gives us much common ground. Londa works at a Christian publishing firm that handles fundraising campaigns for churches and other ministries, so she has a link to CVCA via that as well. So, the 30-minute ride passed quite pleasantly.

We had a short (5-minute) wait for a table outside at the restaurant (it was a pretty day, so we wanted to be outside). Yet eispite the short wait, a CVCA student came into the restaurant during that time. CVCA spotting number one. Keep in mind we were 30 minutes away from the school.

The meal was excellent, and Mer and I decided to split a dessert, and between the two of us we managed to finish a Factory Mud Pie (servings of which are huge). After such a filling meal, we decided to wander around the shopping area (it is an outdoor mall, and well laid out for strolling).

We wandered over to the Apple Store where I did a fair share of coveting over iPods and Macbook Airs. Zach kept telling stories as we kicked tires (so to speak), so that was a pleasant time. On the way out of the store, I heard a yelled “Matt Riordan!” I looked around, and a group of four girls came over – CVCA students who had Zach as a teacher a few years ago. Mer and I have NO idea why they would yell out MY name as opposed to hers or Zach’s, and no idea why they would use my first name. How odd. CVCA sighting number two.

The mall also has a Dick’s Sporting Goods, so I wanted to check it out to see if they had runner’s water bottles (water bottles on belts). On the way there, we ran into one of Mer’s students. CVCA sighting number three. It turns out that Dick’s did not have anything I wanted, but Zach told another story, and there were some funny trash-talking shirts for sale that we liked (“Your mom pays me to take it easy on you” and so on).

To reward Mer for her patience in the sporting goods store, we went into Joseph-Beth’s bookstore, a huge independent bookstore. None of us bought anything, but we spent a happy 20 minutes or so browsing.

We left the bookstore and walked back along a different pedestrian way, and by such came to a little square in the mall. They had a bandstand, and there was a good jazz band playing, that even had three brass players (trumpets and trombone). There were a few couples dancing, and it was a fun scene. We walked by and headed toward the car, but I got derailed by a gelato store. I cannot find real gelato very often, so I swung in and got one scoop of chocolate chip. It was tasty. Londa picked up a small hazelnut, and we ate outside in the pleasant evening air. We finally got back to the car around 8:00 and headed home, happy and very full.

My training for the Akron half-marathon continues apace (ha!). I’m feeling better during my long runs, and I’m looking forward to the race. My longer runs over the last two weeks have been:

– Tuesday, Aug. 26th – 90 minutes (11 miles) – warm day, but decent run.
– Friday, Aug. 29th – supposed to run 17 miles with Jim, but I bailed after 13.4 miles, and I walked along the road until Jim picked me up. It was really hot (86 degrees) and humid. I was pretty discouraged.
– Monday, Sept. 1st – got in a good run early in the morning. The cooler weather and lower humidity made a great difference as I got in 2:09 (about 16 miles).
– Saturday, Sept. 6th – ran with Jim, and he wanted to go about 19 miles. I felt really good, and we ran 2:26, which should have been 18-19 miles.

Race day is 20 days away. I should be able to get in 3-4 more long runs (90 minutes or longer) before the race. I’m still hoping for a personal record, which would be better than 1:35. That will be hard, but I’m hopeful.

 I started Labor Day out with a solo run of 2:09 (16 miles) down on the Towpath. That was a nice run – cool and dry and a huge encouragement to me, since the half-marathon is now only three weeks away.

I got home late morning and showered and ate, and then Meredith announced she had an outing for us.

We recently decided to take up an old tradition. We used to take turns planning date days on Saturdays, where one of us would be in charge for the day. That might involve going out and doing a bunch of things, or it might be a mellow day in, but Mer felt as if it was time to start doing that again. Last weekend was Mer’s turn, and since I had to work Saturday, she decided to claim Monday as “her day.” So, she ushered me to the car and gave me directions that took us down into The Valley (but not the Towpath).

The greater Akron area has many smaller parks called Metro Parks. We had talked about going to these ever since we moved to Cuyahoga Falls about a year ago. Mer decided to take action, and she took me to Akron’s Nature Realm park on the edge of The Valley.

The Nature Realm was not a particularly big park. There were three trails – two that were about a half mile in length, and one trail that was 1.5 miles in length. The entire park is only about 100 acres in size, but they did a great job of making it feel remote. The trails wander through the woods and make you feel as if you are far removed from towns and roads. They also decided that the trails should take advantage of the hills of The Valley, and some of the sections of the trails made us sweat. There was a very cool small suspension bridge that we got to cross over a gorge, and you could feel the bridge sway slightly as you crossed. There were a couple of small ponds to look at (one full of turtles). There was a field full of wild flowers, and there were signs telling about the local butterfly population. The park has a visitors’ center (closed on Mondays, as it turns out), and a small flower and herb garden. One of the great things about a small park is you can see the whole thing. We managed to cover all three trails just in the afternoon we were there, and we had a great time tromping around. Mer planned a nice little outing.

I’ve got a bit of a back-blog. The back-to-school rush has taken me away from blogging for a bit.

Last Sunday, Mer and I went to Aunt Mary’s church, where Mer and Aunt Mary sang a lovely prayer-hymn together for the congregation. Both Mer and Aunt Mary sing well on their own, and when related folk (that can sing) sing together, it is pretty fantastic. They did a great job.

It was a perfect day out before church, and Mer and I arrived there early, so we spent time wandering the church graveyard, which sounds morbid, but I’d like to think it is helping to remember people who are gone from here. We were both amazed at the number of people who lived to be over 80, and there were a fair number who lived to be in their 90s. We also take great pleasure in people who pre-paid for headstones and had 1925-19(blank-blank) carved on them. There is something happy about people outliving their projected tombstone dates – kind of a “take that” to time.

After church, Aunt Mary took me and Mer to the nearby 365th Fighter Group Restaurant for an anniversary-celebration brunch. I really like the 365th Fighter Group – it is a WW II themed restaurant with plots of airplane stuff all over. They have good food, and they sit right on the runway of the Akron-Canton airport. We had a good brunch buffet, and I got to see about 5 jets take off from about as close as you can ever be without being arrested. It was a fine meal, and inspired my taking a Sunday afternoon nap.

(As to the title to this entry, yes I *know* the full quote is not positive, but the partial, famous part fits, so I put the shoe on the blog.)

Last Saturday was the official shindig celebrating CVCA’s 40th year as a school. It was quite an event – there were about 400-500 people in the large gym, which had been gussied up for the occasion. The evening’s dining included some light appetizers, a wonderful served meal of chicken, shrimp (bleh), vegetables, and rice. The celebration was about “Our Legacy – Our Future,” where we looked back over the last 40 years through the eyes of several speeches, including one speech from one of the founders of the school. Several alums spoke as well, and the evening finished off with the president, Dr. Taylor, speaking to how CVCA is looking ahead to a bright future, with possible expansion of the physical plant, mentoring programs, and possible schools-within-the-school where you can get on a possible science track or fine arts track, and so on.

It was impressive to me to see how many people came to the event. The gym is not air conditioned, and it got quite warm in there. The evening was not designed in any way as a fund raiser, but it still cost a fair amount to get in. I got to see a bunch of people I knew – it is kind of neat to belong to a real community where you feel comfortable.

After the formal celebration, Aunt Mary, Mer and I headed off to the library where Mer’s decade (the 90s) was gathering. I did not really know anyone, but there were desserts, of which I had way too many. Craig showed up after awhile, and we talked too briefly – I got into a conversation about computers with a former CVCA parent, so I could not talk to Craig so much as I would have liked.

We wrapped the evening up around 10:00 or so and went home. BUT we are wild things, and Craig had let it slip that he was bachin’ it, so we got in the car and headed over to Craig’s house. He was quite surprised that we were not already pumpkins, and he let us in. What do three 30-somethings do on a childless Saturday night? Duh! We played trivia games! We played Outwageus, where you bet on if people will get a question right or wrong. Craig ended up winning, but Mer made a tremendous comeback from being broke to almost winning the game. After about two hours of playing, I had $17,000 (we played to $50,000), a solid third. No big surprise there. Mer and I did finally really get home about 1:00 am; it was a fun evening all around.

My boss at CVCA is Jim, and he is a long-distance runner nut too. We decided this year to run the Akron half-marathon again (late September), and then have an eye out for a late-October marathon to maybe run. I have been trying to ramp up my miles, but have had very little success of late. Because school is starting up again, I needed to switch my running from early morning to afternoon, and it has been hot. Last week, I ran 45 minutes (about 5-6 miles), 30 minutes (about 4-5 miles), 30 minutes, and 23 minutes (3 miles). I was supposed to run 12 miles at least once this week, if not twice.

So, I approached Jim about running this morning, early. He agreed, but said he wanted to go 17 miles. We decided to take separate cars down to the towpath to run – that way I could leave after 12 miles if I wanted to, while Jim could run on.

This morning was a perfect morning for running (cool and dry). We met up a little after 7:00, and started off. We both felt good. My legs started to feel things around 40 minutes, but not too badly, so we continued on. I made up my mind, based on how I was feeling (good), that I was going to run at least 2 hours. Once that happened, we only had 2 miles to go to get to 17 miles, so I kept going with Jim even though my legs were really tired (I was only supposed to go 12 miles by my home-grown training schedule).

The results were encouraging: we made it. We ran 17 miles in 2:17, which is just (barely) under 8-minute miles. Our goal for Akron is about 7-minute miles, but that is only 13 miles, and is still a month away, so I think the run was a good one this morning. Now I’m going to take my weary legs and go nap!

Last Saturday was Jo’s real birthday, as well as the evening concert of Great Big Sea that got the whole outing going. We puttered about at the house while everyone got ready, and we left around 10:00 for our first exciting Greater Akron destination of the day – the Towpath Trail in the valley.

The Towpath is a trail built near and around the old canal that went through the valley. As a towpath, it is very level, and so I run on it from time to time. I admired what I saw, so I thought it would be a good destination for our guests. I went to the parking area just off Bolanz Road, near a very good farmers’ market (Szalay’s market). We parked and headed south on foot along the trail. It was a beautiful morning, and we saw some wildlife (turtles and herons) along the way. My ultimate destination was the beavers’ marsh – an area that is flooded several feet because of some ambitious mammals. It is about a mile walk, mostly in shade, and passed quite pleasantly.

Once at the beavers’ marsh, we hung out and looked at the thousands of lily pads, and there was a friendly park ranger hanging out explaining about beavers (including having a pelt and a model skull). Meredith then summoned us over to one edge of the foot bridge that spans the marsh to look at one mean-looking, moss-covered snapping turtle. There were a bunch of small fish (about 4 inches) swimming around and looking at us, so I assume they normally get handouts of food.

We ambled back to the parking area, but I wanted to show everyone Szalay’s market. This was not met with any protests (other than a plea for a bathroom stop), and so we found ourselves in a kick-butt farmers’ market. I am not the world’s healthiest eater, and I will eat fruit a few times a year, and vegetables a fewer times a year. But boy, did the food look good at the farm! They had fruits and vegetables of all kinds (especially corn, which is grown in the adjoining fields), but they had cookies, jams, cheeses, and more. I picked up two cookies and a jar of raspberry spread. Shannon scored two corn plates and two quarts of blueberries. James snagged some mixed nuts, and Jo tried fresh corn-on-a-stick after buying black licorice. We all tried out seats outside that were made from old tractor seats and rims, which were surprisingly comfortable. After Jo had eaten her corn, we headed back to the car and then the house to stash our foodstuffs.

We then headed out for more foodstuffs. Mer and I took everyone (in Shannon and Jo’s rented van) to the Cuyahoga Falls Sheridan, to the restaurant Piatto Novo, where they serve a jaw-dropping and waist-expanding brunch. We had fun with a sarcastic grill man (who told Mer she could only have a waffle OR French toast, which was not true), while he made us (in various courses) French toast, Belgian waffles, and eggs to order. The brunch also had a large fruit bar and trays of breakfast meats and breakfast potatoes. I was so stuffed from the regular food that I passed on the dessert table (I was also aware of the cake still at home). Piatto Novo also has a wonderful view of the falls, since it is built right on the river and the river-side walls are all glass. We had much fun watching one duck swimming back and forth across the rapids.

After brunch, we walked along the river walk for about four blocks north. The river was very pretty, and the weather continued to be very fine. We cut in to the shopping area of Cuyahoga Falls, and walked back toward the car though the pedestrian zone. I was pretty surprised – in three blocks, we probably only saw about 5 or 6 people. It was a perfect day in summer, on a Saturday, around 1:00! That does not bode too well for the Falls pedestrian shopping area, which is too bad – it is nice not to mess with a car.

We went north, and I decided to show everyone the Ledges park, which is only a couple miles from our house. It is an area of exposed rock and winding trails that overlook the valley in a couple of places. We were not there too long – about 40 minutes, and we probably only walked about a mile, but it was a good time. On the way back, we stopped at an outdoor-sports supplier to look around. James ended up buying some kind of footwear, but I never saw what. I’m sure it was snowshoes.

We headed back home, where we all settled down to watch a DVD that Jo had brought of an older Doctor Who episode – The Five Doctors. I was a Doctor Who junkie when I was in high school, so it was good to see one of the older shows again. The experience was enhanced with a little cake-eating on my part.

After our movie break, we piled back into the car and headed Akron-ward again. We were headed to the same area we had been on Friday – the concert was at Lock 3, only two blocks from the baseball stadium, Canal Park. Great Big Sea is a pretty popular band, and NE Ohio is (oddly) a folk music hot spot, so we were worried that the place might be mobbed. We wanted to get there when the gates opened (6:30), so we were surprised to see the gates open when we did arrive at 6:15. There was a fair-sized crowd, but not overwhelming, so we were able to plant our blankets in the shade to the far right of the stage, only about 30 feet from it. They were decent seats.

We all whiled away the 45 minutes or so until the concert started with an opening act by wandering around. Mer went to look at the lock. James wandered all over the park to see what was around. Shannon and Jo stood in a line for Jo to get a t-shirt, and then again for Shannon to buy me a CD he owed me from a bet. I went to the food places to get some water for Mer, and then later to get some fries and something to drink. The time passed quite nicely.

The opening act started a few minutes late, about 7:20 or so. It was a singer that I had never heard of, Jeremy Fisher. He turned out to be quite good. It was just him and his guitar, but his music was solid, and his storytelling was excellent. He told a story of getting a free lunch at a university in Michigan, staying to court a girl whom he later married, and thus absorbed her school debt. His moral: there is no such thing as a free lunch. Jeremy played until about 8:45 or so, and Great Big Sea came on about 9:00.

Great Big Sea is a fantastic band. They have tons of energy, and they play traditional tunes but with lots of drive and attitude. The crowd was really into the concert, and I think the band fed off of that. At one point someone threw a cowboy hat on stage, which led to the band members taking turns wearing it and playing country songs. This was all ad libbed, and the crowd loved it (and the lead singer, who was not singing, kept cracking up). At one point the lead singer’s guitar was having issues, so the other guitarist played and sang “Lean On Me.” After an announcement that the band want to do an a cappella number, one of the band members joked about doing “Bohemian Rhapsody” a cappella. This led the lead singer to lead the crowd in singing the song, for over a minute. Everyone was having a blast. The band members kept giving each other a hard time, and the crowd was pumped and into the music. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. They finally had to end the music at 10:45 because the park closes at 11:00 (“Who knew?” asked the lead singer). What a great time.

After the concert, we went to the Ohio Brewing Company/Damon’s restaurant to get some light food, and so James could try some more local brews. I think we hit a gold mine there, because James was able to order the beer sampler, which featured six different kinds of beer in small-ish glasses. Mer and I split an order of mozzarella sticks and a piece of chocolate cake. Shannon ate some fries, and Jo had some food as well as James’s stout (James does not like stout).

Damon’s has about 1 huge TV for every two tables, and the Olympics was on most of them. We sat down in time to see the swimming relay where Michael Phelps was going for his eighth gold medal. We were watching with some interest, and as the last relay man hit the wall with 50 meters to go, a loud cheer went up from the bar area of the restaurant. I figured the bar folks were having a good time on their own, so I did not think too much about it until the last swimmer hit the last 10 meters, still ahead. The crowd near the bar let out another cheer that grew louder as he approached the wall and exploded into applause as he touched the wall in first and Phelps had won his eighth gold medal. It was a touching and neat moment to be a part of in a public space.

After the light meal, we headed home and went to bed. Shannon, Jo , and James headed out around 9:00 on Sunday morning to head to Columbus to pick up Jo’s ferrets. As they pulled out, I sighed to Meredith, “And there goes our summer, pulling out.” It turns out that Jo had forgotten her food from the farmers’ market, so I jumped in the car and ran over to the local coffee place, Rico Latte, where I managed to return the things to Jo.

There are more wonders to see in our neck of the woods, but I’ll have to save them for another time.

Everything started a few months ago when I noticed a band I liked was coming to Lock 3 in Akron. Great Big Sea, a Newfoundland group that does folk-based songs with energy and attitude, was coming to NE Ohio, and for only $5 per ticket. This was a great opportunity! I called Sonotmu, and mentioned it. I invited him out for the concert, and it turns out that the day of the concert (Saturday the 16th) is Jo’s birthday. In addition, Jo loves ferrets, and Ohio has ferret breeders in Columbus, so the ball got rolling for Shannon and Jo to come out since Jo wanted to get two ferrets. As the time got closer, it turned out that our mutual friend James (aka the Rev) was also able to come along, so we had a merry little party going for Jo’s birthday. This called for something big. Or at least something nice – it is Ohio, after all.

Everyone came out on Friday, getting here much earlier than I had expected – about 1:15. No one was here at the house (I was at work and Mer was out running errands), so the trio went to a local Chinese place for lunch and came back. By the time they got back, Mer was home and so they were able to get in; Jo had a migraine, and so went to lie down, while James and Shannon came with Mer to CVCA to see where Mer and I work.

I was able to join everyone about 3:00 or so, and so we puttered around a bit, with Shannon hooking up his iPod Touch to our TV, so he could show us the online video of Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a very funny online video made by Josh Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame). By the time the video was wrapping up, Jo was awake and feeling better, so we headed out to an evening on Akron town.

Shannon and Jo had rented a small six-passenger van thingy, so we all fit comfortably in their car. We got to Akron and found a parking garage with only one slight mis-turn, and we walked downtown to Lock 3, where our restaurant of the evening is located. I had chosen a sort of hole-in-the-wall kind of bar as a good place to eat because they specialized in seven different types of grilled cheese. The Lockview restaurant boasts a patio on the roof, but sadly, this was closed when we went (they were setting up for a party of some kind). Still, I liked the place – our waitress was fun and a bit sassy, and the menu lived up to expectations – Jo, James, and I all ordered various kinds of grilled cheese, while Shannon went with hummus and quesadillas and Mer got some hearty-looking mac-n-cheese. Shannon was also able to get an English imported cider that he likes, and James got a locally brewed beer that he seemed to enjoy.

The meal was fairly leisurely, taking about 45 minutes to an hour or so, and then we made the two-block walk to Canal Park, home of the Akron Aeros, the AA baseball team affiliated with the Cleveland Indians. It was a perfect night for baseball, and my memory had served me well in recalling that the third-base side of the stadium (where we had seats) was in the shade. I love Canal Park – it is a small stadium (it can hold about 10,000), and is clean and well-kept. The experience is fun – there is generally some sort of diversion between each inning. We saw a water-balloon-hitting contest, a race around the bases between a boy and the Aeros mascot (the boy won – the mascot, Orbit, is only 1-60 for the season), a dance competition between two kids from the audience (one had great moves), a race between people dressed as cream sticks (chocolate won, as it should), and more. I love the wacky things that go on between the innings – they make me smile.

I also like watching minor league baseball. It is impressive to watch how good these guys are, and yet they are still a couple of moves away from the big leagues. I couldn’t get over how fast the ball moved. There are a few more errors in minor league games that I have seen, but not so many as to be sloppy. The game we saw on Friday was very good, with a few really good plays made in the infield. Sadly, the visiting team (New Britain) had great pitching, and the Aeros only managed two hits all evening, and lost 6-0.

To wrap up the evening at the park, there were fireworks sponsored by Akron Children’s Hospital (it was cancer survivor day at the park). These fireworks are the best I have ever seen. The were launched from behind the left field wall, so they were only about 300 feet away, and most exploded near the ground. Many times you could feel the impact of the shock wave from the combustion. In fact, the fireworks were close enough that the three sections of seats closest to the fireworks were emptied before the show began, since that was a place where firework fallout could land. In addition to being close, the show was extravagant – there were always fireworks in the air, and often there were 10 or more going on at once. They combined close-to-the-ground streaming fireworks with more traditional ones that exploded higher up, and the entire thing was more or less coordinated with music piped over the loudspeakers of the stadium. It was great. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I figured they would not come out on the camera, and also I wanted to just relax and enjoy the show.

After the show, we walked the three blocks back to the car in the garage and headed home, except that with all the traffic from the game (and probably a concert from Lock 3), it took about 15 minutes just to get out of the garage. Still, that was okay – the company was good.

We got home and turned on the Olympics and I served up Jo’s birthday cake. It was not her birthday yet, but the cake was not going to get any fresher. It was a bakery-made cake, and was very good – white cake with chocolate and peanut butter layer fillings, with a white buttercream frosting.

All in all, I could not have asked for things to go better. The weather had been great, the restaurant worked out, and the baseball game (plus fireworks) was a great way to spend the evening. We all managed to head to sleep around 11:00 or so (we had a busy day planned for Saturday, but that is another post).