Mmm...Cheerios

Buffalo may be cold and miserable 8 months a year, but when it's nice, it is hard to beat. Yesterday was a gorgeous morning (until it started drizzling about mile 9), so we set off for South Buffalo for one of my favorite runs. It's a very eclectic run--industry, parks, old neighborhoods. It really is a snapshot of what Buffalo looked like 75 years ago. The neighborhoods are mostly tidy little houses that were built around factories. You can still see where trains went right into the buildings to take away whatever they were making. You start in the center of the business district and work your way down cobblestone streets and lots of neighborhood bars--it's South Buffalo (Irish) after all. Part of the run is along the lake, past the botanical gardens, the Basilica in the distance and then the best part--right past the General Mills plant where they were baking Cheerios. I just wanted to stop, get a spoon and start eating cheerios off the assembly line (or however they pack them). It smelled SO good! We only went 12 miles, but I'd been 17 the day before. I'm supposed to be cutting back, but had my high mile mark last week (72 miles from Sunday to Saturday). I promise myself I will cut back this week. I do feel strong right now and ready to go.

Billy finished his MCAT for better or worse. He said the test was much harder then any practice tests out there. Hopefully he can take a breath and relax a little.

Here's a question. Would you ever ride a train again if you'd been on this one? An Amtrak (so passenger) train went through Buffalo on its way to Toronto on Friday. It hit and killed a woman walking on the tracks in Buffalo (I ran across the tracks in the exact spot last Saturday). When it neared Toronto, the same train hit and killed a man walking on the tracks. Neither accident was the engineer's fault, but I would think he'd have a hard time driving a train ever again. I think I'd have a hard time being a passenger either. Very traumatic!

Two weeks until marathon day. It's coming fast now!