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after work i dashed off to south boston to meet up with julie lepage for a run around pleasure bay. the appointment was 5:30pm but i was over half an hour late due to a slow subway and not being able to catch the no.7 bus in time. when i finally got there (got off at city point), julie was nowhere to be seen. i figured she started running without me, so i thought if i started running myself, i'd eventually bump into her -- provided of course that she and i go in opposite directions, otherwise we'd be like two ships passing in the night, never meeting.

it was my first time at pleasure bay and i was pleasantly surprised, a beachy oasis hidden in south boston. it almost didn't feel like boston, more like california, as the balmy weather was lit by a late afternoon sun. a lot of people there seemed local, and the place had a very homey atmosphere. strolling senior citizens and parents with baby in stroller shared the path with scantily clad runners, bikers, and rollerbladers. people flying kites, people walking their dogs, bikinied teenage girls splashing in the water, people resting on park benches. half of the route you're surrounded by water on both sides, so a nice sea breeze gently cools you off as you run. the strips of sandy shores reinforce the illusion that you're actually at the beach instead of somewhere in the city. the only reminder that you're in a city are the screaming planes coming in for a landing at nearby logan airport! these planes fly close enough for people down below to count the number of rivets on its wings! it's actually quite exhilirating, having planes fly so close overhead!

so i ran, once around. i'm not sure how long the route was, but i think once around is 2 miles, since i usually do 3 miles in 30 minutes (yes it's true, i'm a 10 minute miler) and i ran the perimeter in less than 20 minutes. not feeling particularly tired and thinking that a mere 2 miles would not satisfy my running blood lust, i embarked on a second time around the bay. with my second round almost completed, i lifted my shirt to wipe my sweaty face when i heard somebody yell, "tony yang is that you!"

so we meet after all! we both relate our stories of how we each tried to find the other person but ended up failing. julie hadn't run and even though i almost completed 4 miles worth of running, i wasn't going to abandon her, so we ran around fort independence and then around pleasure bay one more time. 6 miles anyone? oh yeah, i also ran into allie when i was running! i later saw her again on the beach, running around like a crazy woman, chasing maya and taking her photos.

after completing that run we stopped by the hot dog ice cream shop. i got myself a hot dog, a small root beer, and an italian ice -- all for the low price of $2.80! julie just got a bottle of water. we retreated to the highgrounds of fort independence and watched the people go by as we ate and drank.

things we talked during our run and eventual walk back from city point to south station:

  • how julie got poison ivy on her legs and she showed me the horrible leprosy-like scabs and scars on her legs from scratching.
  • how julie use to visit pleasure bay all the time when she was a kid and remembers the cement alphabet animals that use to inhabit the tot lot. now all that remains is a cement elephant with the letter e stamped on its side.
  • how i should really learn to rollerblade because it's fun, even though it really isn't exercising because it's too easy.
  • how julie's pakistani boyfriend's parents are visiting the US for the first time, and how they're amazed by how clean everything is, about our abundance of naturally growing trees that do not need the assistance of gardeners to grow, and how people here in new england are such civil drivers. pakistan must be hell then!
  • how i should get running shorts, because it just sort of wicks away the prespiration. she never thought she'd be a running shorts wearing kind of gal, but once you get a pair, you'll never go back.
  • how south boston has really improved in recent years, what it'd be like to live there, and admiring some of the architecture.
  • walking back, we were accosted by a southie boy brandishing a plastic machine gun with a bright orange safety tip, who leapt from behind a door and shouted at us, "who do you like better? britney spears, eminem, or fred durst?" this kind of stuff is just too weird to make up.
  • how the silver line station by the world trade center should be named by kids in a citywide contest. mighty morphin power t!
  • the new hotel being built by the world trade center totally screws the unobstructed view of the city's skyline of the building behind it.
  • how julie's growing vegetables: tomatoes, lettuce, basil, cilantro. a debate ensued on why tomatoes are technically fruits, versus peppers, which are vegetables. i say tomatoes are fruits because tomato plants are actually stunted trees. given the chance, they will grow to tree size, therefore tomatoes are fruits.
  • how george foreman's grille is the single person's most indispensible cooking device! cook chicken in just 4 minutes!
we got to south station and took the red line north, promising to maybe start a new monday running routine after work. next week -- walden pond?

now, hours later, my legs are in tremendous pain! the kinds of pains i felt the first time i ran in a long time back in early may. my left knee feels like it got bashed from the side, and my ankles feel swollen. i'd be curious to see what will become of me tomorrow morning after a good night's rest. speaking of good night's rest, better get some sleep or i won't get any! tomorrow will also be interesting because i came home directly from the run, didn't go back to the office to reclaim my stash. that means tomorrow i go to work naked, bagless, no mp3 player, no digital camera, no commuting journal. i guess i will have no choice but to read choke on the t.