Today's excitement kicked off this morning with our second 5K in as many months, this one "Runnin' to Beat the Blues" at Centennial Park here in Nashville. The rain made it a very soggy trek around the Parthenon, but we still managed to turn in personal-best times. We are far from avid runners (although we are starting down that path), so my finish at 45:37 and hers a minute later gives us at least a bit of satisfaction. My time was from the official clock because my iPhone's stopwatch reset at around mile two. I really need to find out if the time chips the Nashville Striders use cost any extra.
There was a rather touching moment during the race as the course ran parallel to itself coming back around the road beside Centennial Sportsplex. An older gentleman, at least in his upper sixties, was jogging along in front of us at a fairly good pace. He looked across the way to another man he knew and and yelled "I guess you got this one. Next time!" The other man just smiled as he continued ahead on the loop. I hope I have that kind of long friendship (and friendly rivalry) when I get to be their age.
Our next stop was over in East Nashville to the Walden Artisan Market, a small gathering set up in a vacant (and remarkably unfinished) storefront off Eastland Avenue. We walked around to the nine or ten booths, finally settling on a jewelry maker. My wife picked up a silver necklace with a cross on it, something she says that she had been looking for for quite some time. Its always a good idea to support the locals whenever we can.
She and I both napped after the race, giving up a good chunk of our Saturday for some much-needed sleep. Twitter, the television and finally the weather radio alerted us to the strong line of storms moving through the area. It is not one of my favorite rituals, but my wife has us go down to the fitness center in the event of tornado warnings to get us on the ground floor and out of our apartment. This is the first time I have had my phone, so it was not nearly as boring. That, and the hockey game going on downtown had a thrilling OT finish shortly after the the storms passed.
We are now settling in for Earth Hour, although I understand that many Nashville residents are having an involuntary blackout as NES works to restore power.