While running the 5K on Saturday, I realized I’ve been going too easy on myself during my runs.  So today I decided to do a fartlek run.  Running solo, I figured it would be good to create a playlist to assist with the workout.  I included songs with varying tempos, both internal to the songs and between the songs.  Gina by Blues Traveler is crazy fast.  Antarctica by Midnight Oil doesn’t speed up as much at the end as I thought it did as a teen, but it should still work.  Mary Mac, all three versions, performed by Carbon Leaf, speeds up through the song instead of jumping from slow to fast, so if I’m not careful, I’ll miss when I need to go faster.  Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers (Oils) works surprisingly well.  Bells and Horns in the Back of Beyond (Oils) works well, as does Lucky Country (Oils).  Summer Song (CL) doesn’t work as well at the end, unless it’s downhill.  There’s a few I didn’t get to tonight; perhaps by the weekend I’ll have refined the playlist.

This week the temperature jumped up from the 60’s to the 90’s.  On Monday I ran after 21:00 so it would be cooler.  It was still 90 when I started but dropped 9 degrees by the time I returned home.  One of the nice things about running near dinnertime instead of so much later is the wonderful aromas from people cooking dinner.  Tonight I ran past some restaurants, so I got to smell some aromas, but Arby’s is not quite as nice as the dinners I inhale while passing peoples’ homes.

When I was in high school, there is no way I would have dreamed of taking pictures while out running.  Even three years ago, if I had taken pictures while running, I would not have wanted to share them: the quality was too low.  Now with a smartphone I play at being a photographer.  I’ve got a bunch of pictures I have wanted to post, but for now I’ll constrain myself to one from the 3rd of May, and one from the 22nd of April.