Where in the world is Carmen...?

No, I was not in search of Carmen San Diego, nor was I following any of the clues dropped by the Inspector. The title of today's (OK, yesterday's) blog is merely a nod to my running friend Carmen, who yesterday threatened me with public humiliation if I didn't return to blogging and running, or vice versa.

Bent River Brewery Mississippi Blonde

So this one's for you, Carmen.

Well, what to say? I cam up short, but it's a start. I went two weeks without running because of sore knees -- sucks to get old. Then I ran and didn't bother to blog it. OK, in my defense I was damned busy with work and life outside of blogging. But, yeah, I FAILED to write about what I was doing. And writing is really the goal here for me. I mean, I enjoy running, almost as much as I LOVE bicycling.

But I am at heart a writer. That is what I need to be doing. If running helps me do that, then I'll run. And the running also is necessary to keeping off the pounds and keeping me in better shape. I let myself go for two decades, so it's harder now than if I had stuck with at least part of what I was doing in college -- besides drinking.

Bent River Big Pyre Amber Ale - brought
home a growler of it!

Also in my heart is bicycling. Not only is it how I prefer to get around, how I am comfortable getting around, it is who I am. I am someone who bicycles by choice, by DESIRE. And yet, I came into possession of a car last week and subsequently traded it for a better car, taking on a payment and increased insurance costs. And strangely, as I took my second out-of-town trip since buying said car -- a sweet little Honda Civic that reminds me of a Star Trek shuttle craft -- I felt empowered, emboldened, energized and confident.

WTF?! Why should my sense of being, my masculinity perhaps, be linked to owning a car? That is not who I am. Or is it? Am I conflicted? Maybe it's because socially we are taught that cars are a key to adulthood and that bicycles are childish things. And while I have embraced the bicycle and eschewed the automobile, I have fallen prey to that social upbringing.

Now I must find balance: bicycle yin to automobile yang. I pray I can succeed in that.

Anyway, back to the run. In my haste to get on the street after such a long absence, I left without a bag for treasures, though I still picked up two items, and forgot my phone on the kitchen table, so no photos from the run. Instead I'll share the pix I made in Moline at Bent River Brewery after visiting my buds at the Moline Dispatch. 

The sweatshirt says: Nothing goes down like a Blonde - a
clever reference to Bent River's Mississippi Blonde beer.
I'd say Amber goes down even better. ;)

Today's Stats
Temp: 50 degrees F (6 p.m. 10/20)
Distance: 2.75 miles
Treasure: 1 nickel; 1 teething ring.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Broken - Lifehouse
Heartbreak Warfare - John Mayer
Distance - Ryan Patrick
I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Catch My Disease - Ben Lee
Time and Time Again - Counting Crows

A nickel and a teething ring. That was it
for treasure Thursday.