16:14

We've had some sort of a real Spring season this year, with generally cool, rainy weather which has extended the typically short season.  Actually, April was a weird month that gave us a prank of a snowstorm on the first of the month, and then hit the 80s ten days later.  Weekends, though, have been pretty great these two months -- often peaking in the "golden" range of 55-65 degrees, which I love to run in.  So, I've kicked off my long run practice for the year, albeit very slowly; more walking than running for now, and sticking to my local rail trail.

Fantastic Spring sky on my first long run of the season on the rail trail:

Springtime view from the high point of the rail trail overlooking a reservoir:

I've also acquired my final pair of running shoes for the season, deciding upon the Saucony Kinvara 7. This is my third different Saucony model -- I ran my first marathon in Saucony Triumph!

Shoe update: I got really lucky this year and made two great selections in the Brooks and the Saucony pairs. Both are amazingly comfortable on my feet and I'm looking forward to another marathon later in the year, knock on wood.  At this point, the Brooks are in the lead to be the main event shoe.

Yesterday I took a departure from long runs with some climbing on Mt. Monadnock -- hill climbing is a great workout alternative.  I saw a few folks actually running up the trail, but in a characteristically uninteresting style, I myself did not make it to the summit and have no pictures to share. Rest assured, though, that I feel some burn today.  (Not as much as my brave wife who did climb all the way and has some scrapes and bruises and sore calves/quads for her effort!)

Switching gears... Memorial Day is a time for me, in recent years, to reflect on the ultimate sacrifices that have been made to preserve the foundation of freedom we cherish in this country.  Having had an active day yesterday and a rainy day today, I chose to stay in and watch the film Patriot's Day.  True, it is not a military story, but it is a story that contains ultimate sacrifice within the war that has been upon us in this age.

Overall I liked what the film accomplished.  It did not dwell too long on the bloody aftermath of the Boston marathon bombing itself, but it provided a decent (dramatized) narrative of the day leading up to the bombing and the days of investigation and pursuit afterward.  You need to get past Mark Wahlberg's composite character, who somehow manages to be directly involved in every pivotal moment in the investigation.  The other major characters are well represented.  I'm sure that I learned some new details, but since the film is a dramatization, I would have to stop myself from being too certain about anything specific.

One thing that the film captured was that the bombing was a both a local and global event -- precisely because the Boston Marathon is a quintessential annual event that both defines Boston and is celebrated around the world.  2013 was also the year that I ran my first marathon, in October, and I had truly payed attention to the Boston marathon all the way through for the first time that year. Needless to say, 2013 is pretty well etched into my memory.