Tuesday Mishmash

This past Friday was LONG RUN Friday. 3 hours. All alone. Yuck. Maybe I should back up and let you know what I did Thursday. Thursday was "run hills with Lynnie and Jilly" day. We ran Riverside Drive on the south side of town, up and down, up and down. At 6:30am (or a little later because if you know me you know I'm always late). Bleh. Oh, and we're running at Lynn's new pace, which is pretty fast, especially on hills at o'dark thirty when I still haven't had my morning coffee. I kept reminding myself as I looked for those two girls waaaay ahead of me that I chose to do this over running 1:15 by myself. Here's the route:

So Thursday's run was hard. Then I get to top it with another tough 3 hr run with 30 minute intervals building from easy to zone 4. As I was putting on my running togs, Sophie starts bouncing up and down, "oh boy oh boy oh boy we're gonna go for a run!" I felt so bad that she wasn't going to be able to come with, but dragging a half dead Viszla after 10 miles wouldn't be fun. So home she stayed. I loaded up the fuel belt with gu and water, mapped out my run, and headed out. It was a beautiful day, thank goodness. Not too hot. The first 4 miles were good, and even included MORE hills as I ran up to Grove Avenue from the UofR/CCV cut through on Tapoan and Iris. I took in the first gu at Starbucks, refilled the water bottles, and was waiting for the light to turn when I ran into a friend. He's training for the Tour de Tucson that is our local JDRF office's fundraiser this year--lucky guy just got a new road bike, all carbon with better gearing. He's amazed at what a difference it made! So chat chat chat, gotta run...and off I go down Grove. I was cruising along and just ahead along the curb of the road was a turtle. Can't leave the turtle there to wander into traffic, so I ran holding him for a block or two looking for a good place to put him out of harms way. Someone's walled garden was just the place, but I think the roofers working there all thought I was nuts for saving a turtle.

I hit the 195 overpass and it was time to put it in high gear. Time for that zone 4 area. ooof. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to run this part on sidewalks that are buckled and wobbly. Oh well. Bounding over curbs and whatnot helped keep the hr elevated. I picked the route since it's familiar territory, and has ample water and potty stops along the way. It took me exactly 1:25 to get all the way down to the VCU campus. Time to refill the water bottles, so I wandered up to my old MFA program stomping grounds and found Rob! Poor guy, I left sweaty bottom prints on his chair and sweaty elbow prints on his desk. But it was nice to see him and catch up briefly before heading back out.

The way home wasn't half as fun. It was getting late (it was about 12:30 when I turned for home) and was quite warm. I was drinking as fast as I could refill those bottles, and taking in my gu every 3 miles. I did run into Sophie's trainer and was able to put the bugaboo in his ear about her staying at Vizsla heaven (he owns 2 viszlas) while we're in Florida. Trudge trudge trudge on home. The guy at Starbucks looked at me and said "You again? How far are you running?" The downhills back by CCV hurt, but not as much as the last hill up to our street. Home at 2pm, in the ice bath by 2:10. Then it was time for a nap. Then packing for the beach. Whew. Here's the map of my route:

We had a great weekend at the beach. Saturday was cool and overcast and since (HOORAY!) I didn't have a run to do, we took our bikes down to the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge to bike to False Cape State Park. I loved biking with the family. I think this is the first time we've ever all been on bikes as a family (the four person ones with the canopy on the boardwalk don't count). The kids are totally ready for new bikes though, and could probably use ones with gearing. Once at the park, we went out to the beach and had some impromptu races. The ride back wasn't nearly as much fun due to a headwind (welcome to my life), but the kids were troopers and handled it well. Next time we'll try biking all the way to the North Carolina border, which is about 5 miles further down from the Park.

Of course the day we have to pack up and leave was gorgeous. The guys went to hit some golf balls and Maddy and I goofed off. I did get my run in, with Sophie. We have a regular ~5mi loop where we run down on the road and back along the beach. She must have run an additional 3-4 miles just running ahead to chase birds then coming back to me. Tired dog = happy dog! We stopped in Williamsburg on the way home to visit with my uncle. My aunt is still in the hospital, but will be coming home soon we hope. I still need one of those pink "Cancer Sucks" splish suits.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!