Inside Out

Again reaping the benefits of a taper, I did 5 1/2 easy on the Art Museum loop instead of any kind of tempo or fast stuff that I usually do on Tuesday. Weather is damp overcast, feels colder than the 40 degrees its supposed to be.

Tuesday runs of late have been used for a self-debriefing of the Monday evening class I teach. I've written occasionally here on my involvement with Inside Out, an organization that facilitates setting up courses in jails and prisons. These courses match colleges and carceral facilities in courses where the class is comprised of equal numbers of incarcerated ("inside") and undergraduate ("outside") students. This semester, I finally got things together to where I'm teaching a class on Monday evening in one of the Philly jails. Its been one of the best teaching experiences I've had. Last night the topic of the class was victims and victimization, and the students shared some powerful stuff and made some insights that had me scratching my head.

I took all this with me on my run this morning and just let my mind run on its own parallel course. Running here becomes something that my legs do while I take time to wander off deep into my thoughts. Along the way I find connections, insights, and new ideas. And then, without really being aware of it, the run is over.