Chemical Spill

How often do you get to say that your run was thwarted by a chemical spill?

My usual run these days (when I make it out the door, which isn't all that frequent anymore) is the 1.5 mile loop around Caltech's campus. Usually I'll do two loops, sometimes only one and, rarely, three.

Today, I did exactly 2/3 of one loop. A half mile into the run I encounter a massive road block... the road, both sides of the sidewalk and a good section of the campus was sectioned off by police tape and emergency personnel. Hmmm... interesting. I stopped, inquired, and gained no information other then that there had been a chemical spill. While I was slightly inconvenienced, you'd think the Caltech scientists beginning to congregate in the 'green zone' had just been told their childhood dog died. No lab work today?!? What will we doooooooo?!?

So, bemused and slightly sympathetic for the police officer left to explain the situation to the growing mob of scientists (I doubt they'll take the answer of 'chemical spill' and leave it at that) I turned back towards home. Strike 1.

Just as I was considering which direction to go once I was back in the green zone, my ab muscles pointed out that I forgot to put on my support belt this morning. Strike 2. Strike 3 came when I decided to stop kidding myself about how dang hot it was. Not yet 8am and already 80 degrees. You're out. Oh well, 10 minutes of running followed by 20 minutes of stretching is not a complete loss.