I forgot if I've ever done an entry on running, but since I don't think I've mentioned this place before, I thought I'd give it a go.

So I've never been the athletic type until I got to college. The seed of being a long distance runner started late in senior year, with a very inspiring AP Biology teacher who was also a marathoner. From that point onwards, I slowly built up distances until now, where I'm at 13-20 miles for a long run, which is enough for a marathon, if I keep it up.

The problem with running for me is that it's very time consuming. I can lose myself for hours with just the running alone. When you tack on the additional shower time, food time, recovery time, it ends up being a good chunk of the day gone. As a result, I've been swimming constantly, but haven't run for at least a month.

I decided to remedy that this past Saturday, and decided to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) to get back into it. My trail takes me from here, on Dwight and College, all the way down Dwight till I hit Aquatic Park, over the bridge to Berkeley Marina, a couple rounds around Cesar Chavez Park, and then all that in reverse as I make it back up. My body wasn't prepared for it, and my legs certainly told me so. I had to start walk/running about 7 miles in, which was bleh. But even though it wasn't the best timed run, it was certainly one of the most beautiful I've ever done.

The run through down Dwight was quite shady. The neighborhood isn't the best, but there were at least 3 separate yard sales which I stopped to visit. All manner of strange objects were available, but carrying only my ID with me, I pressed onward. Spring has just come to Berkeley, after a very wet winter, so the sun and warmer temperatures were very much appreciated. As I shoot down Dwight, the smell of the ocean starts kicking in at the intersection of San Pablo. After hitting the end of Dwight (made obvious by the big yellow sign with "END" written on it), I drop down a concrete step, run past some railroad tracks, and follow this narrow trail until it opens up into Aquatic Park.

Aquatic Park is aptly named for the giant-ass pond sitting in the middle of it. And I mean it's huge. Surrounding the pond is about 2 miles of uneven pavement, nice foliage, some corporate buildings and a playground. In addition to the seemingly idyllic setting are the infamous bushes near the car entrance of the park, where men fool around in small side paths blocked by trees from the rest of the park. Regardless, it's still a nice place to run. 1 mile of the track runs parallel to I-880, so one can see the latest traffic developments.

Off to the side is the bridge that runs over I-880, with the two abstract guardian statues at either end. On the other side of the bridge is the path to the Berkeley Marina. After running the path (which is often crowded by cars carrying people going to sail or whatnot), one enters Cesar Chavez Park.

This is the highlight of the run. As soon as I entered the park, I could see at least 10 kites flying around in the wind. Some of them were small, with long, trailing, rainbow-colored tails. As they dipped and rose in the air, their tails would mimic the motions, always a moment slower. The people controlling them always seemed to be adjusting their actions, trying to keep them dancing in the breeze, which always blows very strongly. And then there were the other kites, majestic airships of the sky. Their bodies never moved, and the only indication that they weren't suspended from the clouds were the tails and streamers that oscillated with the wind. They seemed like dragons, with wings spread, traveling in a straight line to who knows where.

My eyes were glued on the kites and their flyers, that I almost ran into a couple of people along the trail. Only a short distance later, the park opens up into the most beautiful view I have seen thus far in my life.

It appears quite suddenly, as you have to run over a hill to get to it, but when it comes, it really hits with full force. The whole of the ocean spreads out before your eyes, with mountains to the right, Oakland to the left, and smack dab in the middle, San Francisco. I guess one of the few good things of not being in SF is that you can see it from the outside. From the Bay Bridge going in, to the Golden Gate Bridge leaving for Sausalito, it really is a majestic sight to behold. In the foreground, the ocean shimmers with a silvery beauty, as the afternoon sun hits it just right, where a triangle of white comes at you under the Golden Gate Bridge. The ocean always seems so calm, but if you just close your eyes, the sound of the waves on the rocks wakens one to a different feeling. There are sailboats bobbing with the waves, and just the outline of mountains in the background, creating a detailed haziness that seems at once familiar and mysterious.

It goes without saying I always take a rest here and just stare out.

As I begrudgingly continue with my run, the people seem friendly, and there are dogs everywhere, which is a good thing. Continuing with the trail, it eventually makes a circle back up to the marina, and then the trip back is the exact same, except for the fact that it's all uphill, which is much more difficult than going down.

Going for a half marathon after not running for a month was a bad idea on my part, but I don't regret it one bit. Just seeing that view made it entirely worth it. So even though my right foot died and I've been limping to class for the past couple of days, I think I'll keep up the training as best as I can, or just take the bus there and run around the parks. After all, if everything works out, I really want to run the full San Francisco marathon come late July, and I'll need to be in much better shape to run all those hills. Though I hear the views on it are also great. It opens by running across the GG Bridge. I guess I can look at it from the other side then. 

It's been awhile. But it'll be something worthwhile I think.

I tried posting this widget that didn't show up properly, about Resident Evil: Degeneration. I'm a huge fan of Resident Evil, both the video games and movies, so I'm probably going to get it when it comes out in a few days. I already have the whole trilogy with Milla Jovovich, so why not? It blends killer viruses and zombies and mutant beasts and hot people. And the occasional giant laser. That's like...perfect. The fastest way into my heart is a giant laser. Figuritively speaking. And I guess physically speaking too. But any movie with a giant laser gets two thumbs up from me even if it's utter shit. Take Final Fantasy: Spirits Within. Pure crap. But it has a giant laser, so I'd be willing to watch it again. Die Another Day is a good movie, with a giant laser, so that's even better.

But giant lasers aside, the most interesting thing I suppose is that I'm home now, back in good old St. Charles, Illinois. The day I flew back the plane was delayed 2 hours coming into San Jose, then delayed taking off and then delayed landing. Quite amazing how many delays one can actually pack into a flight. It was definitely because of weather conditions, but I wonder if it was partly because it was American Airlines. I thought about that as I gazed at the Departures screen. All the Southwest flights to Chicago before and after my scheduled flight had already taken off. I do wonder...

The people one sits next to on a flight always make things interesting. And I've been pretty lucky. The people I tend to meet are kind or at least nonbelligerent, and aren't fat to the point where they are partially sitting on my seat. This time it was a family of four, and I sat with the isolated wife while her husband and two children sat in the row next to us. We discussed background, majors, destinations etc. Quite mundane things, but chances are I'll never meet her again. I didn't even learn her name. Actually I think I forgot it. Point is, flying allows me to learn about a stranger, forces me into close proximity to them, and generally shatters the barriers that everyone puts between themselves and the strangers they meet everyday. Flying is the chance to learn about a stranger. And that always fascinates me, regardless of whatever we talk about.

Anyways, I eventually get into O'Hare, grab about 150 pounds worth of luggage (I'm graduating next semester and brought as much useless stuff home as I could) and then met up with my family and we went home.

The next few days were packed with shopping. And my mother has the uncanny ability to pick the worst weather to go shopping in. One day, it was 3 degrees (-13 with the windchill). And just getting from the car to Macy*s left me shivering for about a minute afterwards. The next time we went, there was a massive snowstorm. And then finally today, there was a massive rainstorm, with flooding due to the rain and melting snow. It was a nice 50 degrees though. But the cold is what I really loved, and the snow, and I really felt like winter had come only when the ground was covered in white. I didn't really feel the spirit of Christmas this year. Probably because I was rushing to and fro with finals followed directly by Christmas parties. But it was fun, and I came out of this semester fairly well. Except for English. English can suck it.

So home is as it always has been. All I've been really doing is eating, reading and sleeping, and that's never a good combination, so I got a gym membership. It was a great deal ($33.50) for a month, at the nearby Xsport. And luckily, few people in the Midwest like working out, so most of the machines are empty, and the pool, which I use the most, is open. Even though I call myself a runner, all I've done for the past month is swimming. It just seems to be the less hassle out of the two sports. And I got a Speedo for Christmas. I highly recommend it to anyone who's in the area and is looking for a gym. Absolutely great. Pretty clean, and all the facilities you could ever want.

As I look back and compare, I really do like California much more. But the Midwest has a special place in my heart that I couldn't remove even if I wanted to. Someone said to me "You can take the boy out of the farm, but not the farm out of the boy". And I suppose in some regards I'm still pretty hick. It certainly shows when you bring up tractors, corn, obesity, or horses with me. Nothing changes here. And in many ways that's a very scary prospect. I am not fond of stagnant people, places or ideas. But it does give me a sense of stability, perhaps not something I'm looking for right now, but it's comforting to know that it's there. And the Midwest isn't necessarily stagnant, just unchanging.

Also people drive slow here. That drives me nuts. 

I don't know where this post is going. So maybe it's not that worthwhile. But whatever, I had fun writing it. I always have these ideas that pop into my head, about something that I want to write about, but like many things, it comes and goes. One that keeps coming up is the joys of having poor vision, so I think I'll tackle that one next. Perhaps I'll write these ideas down as they come to me, but chances are I won't. Somewhat Buddhist. And ah, ephemerality, that's another fun one. There's always a hint of that when I write, I think, but it'd be nice to ironically put it into a more concrete post.

Hoping everyone has a safe and fun holiday. Take care of yourselves!