So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright. . .

Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.

Simon & Garfunkel song. . . off of the album Bridge Over Troubled Water. One of the first albums I ever owned.

The song bounces around inside my head upon my return from Racine Wisconsin, where I was at a conference center called Wingspread, whose main building was designed by FLW (see picture). It is an amazing building, and was an amazing three days spent discussing ideas and initiatives about preventing homelessness among persons coming out of the corrections and foster care systems. This was done with various smart, interesting people amidst beautiful surroundings. This is what work should be.

I did manage to get runs in both mornings that I was here, which meant getting up early as the day started at 8:30. On Thursday I ran 90 minutes (almost exactly), leaving the grounds and making a right onto 4 Mile Road to Lighthouse Road, which goes along Lake Michigan and letting me run to the gentle rhythms of the incoming wavelets. Then (about a mile down) I cut in on a road called 3 Mile Road and, in case anyone reading this is familiar with Racine, back over on Green Bay Road and then completing the loop on Four Mile Road again. This left me about 20 minutes short, so I went back down to Lake Michigan and ran along the lake a bit more. Call it a long 11, with no speed as I was just happy to get a long workout in.

On Friday I ran over by the lake again and headed down Three Mile Road but cut the loop short by running down a bicycle path. This provided a solitary, packed dirt trail and obviated the need for running amidst morning traffic on narrow shoulders. I wish I would have known about this on my first run, as I could have taken the path into “downtown” Racine. I also ran a bit through the campus of the Prairie School (which I later found out is a very highfalutin private school) with immaculately maintained grounds and a brand new fieldhouse. My legs were very sore, but did manage to hammer out the last fifteen minutes. Total time was 71:30, call it a long 8.5 miles.

Both days were beautiful crisp early autumn days that were a pleasure to run in. I couldn’t help but remember the last time I got in a workout on a beautiful autumn Midwest (Springfield Illinois) morning – 4 years minus two days ago from today (figure out what happened then).

By the way, I changed the little pic of me on the top left hand corner of the blog. It was taken at last weeks R&R half by the race photographers, and I ripped it from their website. Click on it and check out the large version if you don't think I leave everything on the course.