A couple of weeks ago I beat my personal record for running my 2 mile loop around the nearby countryside. I call the run The Mad Dog with respect to the many canine egos that I have to manage on the way. This particular running session in question was different than the others because it was my first sincere attempt at beating my best overall time of 14 minutes, 59 seconds, and because I had actually lengthened the run a small fraction of its original length to augment its scenic viewing opportunities.