No EPL = More Run Like Hell

Now that the English Premier League (EPL) season is over, I have a lot more free time on weekend mornings. Since the games are in England, they show up live in the US early in the morning, usually around 7 or 8am. That meant my weekend long runs were held ransom to the EPL schedule. If good teams were playing, I skipped the long run (or did it later, and often shorter, in the day). Now the season is over...even the Champion's League and FA Cup. I am left with only the United States based Major League Soccer (MLS). The MLS players and teams are not of the same quality (or entertainment value) as the EPL. Plus, the games tend to be played late in the afternoon or evening. That means more time for crazy long runs each weekend morning! I still find myself browsing the Fox Soccer Channel looking for games, but only World Cup qualifiers are available--many times as reruns when I already know the score. So, soon I will be heading out for more weekend runs. I may head out to Turkey Run State Park next weekend. Jeff showed me a series of great interconnecting trails. It would be easy to get in 10-15 miles of diverse trail running. The park is in west-central Indiana and run by the IDNR--it's not a far drive from central Illinois. I still can't figure out why more buffalo trail runners don't put this park on their regular schedule of runs. The trails are maintained all year and there are lots of ways to make your run shorter or longer depending on how you feel.

I still miss the EPL, but I look forward to traveling to distant sites to get in some new trails. Before I know it, August 15 will be here and a new season of EPL soccer will begin. Best of luck to the newly promoted clubs: Birmingham City, Wolverhampton, and Burnley. It's going to be a long haul for you, but Hull and Stoke stayed up last year. Hope springs eternal.

I am getting ahead of myself. For now, soccer is over, and it is time to run like hell! Note "Highway to Hell" in my current iTunes play list (list on left sidebar of blog).