Therapeutic long run

The weekend's to-do list was filled with a variety of study-related tasks.  Half way through spring finals - five exams down and five more to go.  And so the reprieve of a long run was heartily welcomed, as it usually is. 

This weekend I returned to the Palisades park road, which I hadn't done in a while.  Stuck to the road instead of the Long Path (trail route also in the Palisades) so that I didn't need to watch the ground or worry about tripping/falling.  The blooms have mostly faded and now everything is a super-plush green; I almost missed my turnaround landmark due to thick foliage.  I can only speak for the weekends, but until 10am everyone you encounter on the bridge or the Palisades road is in similarly calm and friendly spirits.  People smile and give a little nod or a wave as they bid each other "good morning," and they look others in the eye at the same time.  Very unique atmosphere, which is why I love mornings in the Palisades so much.  Fewer were out today thanks to overcast skies, but once 10am strikes the weekend warriors come out in full force unless there is precipitation (which is also part of the reason I enjoy running in the rain, so long as its not torrential).  I wasn't able to start early enough to avoid this shift, but I was able to time things so that it only affected the latter third of my run from the bridge to back home.

(A note to weekend warrior cyclists: the successive 90 degree turns that lead around bridge pillars right-left-left-right are sharp enough that you have to come to a near standstill to negotiate them.  Runners barely have to slow down.  So when you jump in front of me directly before the first turn you have in fact rudely cut me off only to make me stop running while you and your 3 buddies try to figure out how to stay clipped into your pedals.  I'd have been through the turns before you got half way.  Just saying.  Now back to my happy place....)

Mornings like today make me think of my list: Denver/Boulder, Seattle/Portland, New Mexico, and as of late also including figments of northern California.  One year and a licensure exam away....

Today's run: 13.7mi, 1:52:15, total elevation gain of ~850 feet.  Song looping in my head: Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Tick."  (I found this odd since I hadn't listened to this group in about a year.)  At some point I'll figure out how to get a map in here....