Seven Mile Morning

Today was my first run of the summer in Louisville, KY. The weather is quite a bit less pleasant than that of outer Cape Cod. However, there was a spring in my step that had been missing for nearly a month. The heat may have been a factor, but it may have had something to do with not having had any wine the day before.

Louisville is really a pretty good running town. Granted, an apparent majority of the drivers are reckless, oblivious, ignorant and possess an outright disdain towards runners and bikers (who do these non-drivers think they are? streets are for rotund Republicans in SUVs!). Nevertheless, the parks are beautiful.

Cherokee Park, one of the jewels in Louisville's crown of Olmstead Parks, was designed by none other than F.L. Olmstead - yes, he of New York's Central Park fame. Boasting a 2.4 mile paved loop divided into two lanes, one for one-way vehicular use and one for recreational use only, Cherokee is a great place to train. Hills, flats, trails, creeks, bubblers, the park has a little bit of everything. It's been over 10 years since I've taken advantage of them, but there used to be a nice network of single track trails within the park as well. As soon as my 29er ships in, I'll take it out to see how things stand.

This morning's 7 miles melted away briskly down Broadway, past Cave Hill Cemetery along Cherokee Parkway and a portion of the 2.4 mile loop. I felt like the run was pretty fast, but was amazed to find Nike Plus reporting a pace of 7:26 for the run. The mileage matches up with google maps and the timing checks out with my watch, so I guess I ran pretty fast. Definitely a personal best for a 7-miler.

Looking forward to tomorrow's 14-miler.