Volcano Ratings

Back when I first started running for the BAC, one of the more intrepid members introduced me to a system for rating the quality of the sunny day, which signaled the birth of the Volcano Rating System. See, Portland is in an area that was pretty volcanically active until, say, 1980 or so. Thusly, all the mountains you see from Portland are really volcanoes in disguise, hiding underneath snow, waiting to blow. (Feel free to use that line in any poetry you may be inspired to write). Most sunny days during the summer you can easily see Mt. Hood (OR's high point) and Mt. St. Helens. On a good day, you can see down the gorge to Mt. Adams. And on a really good day you can see Mt. Rainier peeking out near Mt. St. Helens. Well, today ranked as a good day on the VRS. From campus at UWS I was able to watch the sun rise from behind Mt. Hood and as the day brightened was eventually able to see St. Helens and Rainier in addition to Hood. I'm willing to bet if I try hard I can find Adams as well. So I'll have to give this one a 3-Volcano rating (out of 4).

The run was equally as good. I ducked out of my Palpation lab early in order to squeeze my 7 miles + strides in while the weather was still good and I wasn't in a hurry. I was joined by a classmate for a bit of the run, but he was feeling the hurt and dropped off. It was probably for the best because I was really cruising, running the two Gledoveer loops in 13:00, then 12:45, which was a bit faster than what I was expecting. I'm blaming the coffee and the excess of Vitamin D experienced in November in the Pacific Northwest.

I ended up running a loop around John Luby Park near school and found a great wood chip segment that is nice for strides, especially in preparation for cross country racing. I think I scalded a couple dogs on my 4 strides, which felt great as well. Overall, a fantastic day running.

Day/Week: 7/22