Wednesday, September 13, 2017

WWU - Renegade Parade of Homes Run

There is a fairly new road that we like to run on as part of our Saturday route - it's been finished for over six months now, but it's still closed to traffic, which makes it perfect for runners.  On one of the adjoining roads, there are a couple of new houses being built, and our curiosity has been growing as the houses are getting close to being finished, so we decided to plan a route where we got most of our miles in before we arrived at the new houses; that way we could pause our Garmins and take a little tour.  Hey, why not throw something interesting into a standard run?

We ran about 3 miles in lovely, cool air - the temperature was only 64 degrees and humidity was in the low 80s - AHHHHH.  While the low temps won't last, it was wonderful to get a taste of better running weather!  Jeff, Julia, Diane, and I had a great run, just chatting and catching up on things, and then we arrived at the new houses and paused our Garmins to explore.  One house has two two-car garages at different angles - I should have taken a picture because it was really interesting to see how they placed the garages.  That house was locked up, so all we could do was peek in the windows, but we did get to see the amazing outside living area, complete with a gas fireplace and room for a built-in outdoor grill and cooktop.  I have to mention that we startled ourselves when we were coming round the back patio area and saw red flashing lights on the wall - thought we were busted - but then we realized the lights were coming from our safety lights that we wear when we run in the dark, ha!  The sun was rising and we'd just forgotten to turn them off.

The second house wasn't locked up, so naturally we all went inside - hey, there's a reason we are called the Renegades!  This house looked huge from the outside, but it was full of regular-sized rooms - not a giant kitchen, just a normal-sized living room, and several bedroom/bathroom combos.  There was a courtyard in the front, with a couple of the bedrooms opening directly there - if they wanted to go to the kitchen, they would have to go outside to get to it.  Strange...and although we could see a second story, we couldn't find any staircase.

We decided to leave, but when we walked outside, we realized there was another entrance to the house and that's where a huge kitchen with floor-to-very-high-ceiling cabinets was - I'm talking maybe 15-foot ceilings?  All I know is that I'd need one of those library ladders to reach most of the shelves in the cabinets - heck, even Diane couldn't reach a lot of the shelves!  This side had a huge master suite, living room, and hey - stairs!  Upstairs was a theater room and more bedrooms.  Of course, we'd just stepped into this side when flashing lights appeared - but this time, it was Karen who startled us.  She'd taken a longer route and had finally arrived.  We concluded that this was probably a multi-generation family house, or as our son has been saying he wants for all of us, a compound.  Once we realized that, the strange layout made more sense.

We finally decided to leave for real and restarted our Garmins - and oh boy, let me tell you, after not running for nearly 25 minutes, we were all stiff starting out!  It took me probably a good quarter mile to shake out my legs, but we finished strong with 4 miles.  This was such a fun run - we still haven't started our official training for the Houston half marathon, so we could play around with the run, but honestly, I wouldn't mind doing this more often, even while we're training.  Having some adventures while running makes the miles feel easier, plus I'm all for making exercise as enjoyable as possible.

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Yesterday, Jeff, Diane, and I did our usual early-morning run around our neighborhood.  I think this was our last run with cooler temps for a while, but oh, it was nice while we had them!  We ran our normal 2.3 mile route, and then I met up with Cary and walked with her for 2.6 miles, which is pretty impressive on her end considering it was two weeks to the day that she had her baby!  We walked some trails that I don't usually get to go on for our Saturday runs, as it's always dark when we're running and they seem spooky and isolated - but the sun had risen and it was a very pretty walk.  Of course I had to take a picture to commemorate it:
New mama Cary, back in action!

I'm happy to have a walking buddy for the next few months - you guys know how much I like having someone to exercise with, right?  Hmmm, wonder if I can convince Cary to not go back to work after her maternity leave is over?

16 comments:

  1. You Renegades crack me up! As you started describing that second house my first thought was the house had an in-law apartment built on. Maybe because my sister is building that very thing for my mom right now so lots of talk about how it's done.

    I have to admit that though I'm a solo exerciser, there are definite times I wish I had someone who would go walk or hike with me!

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    1. I'm interested in hearing more about your sister's build - I really like the idea of a family compound.

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  2. How fun that you were able to explore that house! Around here, that house would be locked up tight with a fence around it. There are so many scrappers around here and they steal everything that isn't locked down. Seriously, they rip open air conditioners for the copper pipes and steal catalytic converters off cars (for the platinum that's inside).

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    1. I know that once the appliances are in, new builds are locked up tight, but these houses weren't that finished. How crazy about the catalytic converter stealing - my gosh!!!

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  3. Haha I love that you guys were creeping on the new houses where are all the pics??? I want to see pictures! I love touring new construction. It gives me the urge to buy or build a new house but then I remember what a hassle it is.

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    1. I know, we totally failed on taking pictures, although wouldn't that be weird, to randomly read a blog and realize that you're seeing picture of your house before it was finished on it?

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  4. Wow, go Cary!

    LOL, my friend in Dallas used to always be tagged in photos on Facebook of her running club exploring houses under construction along their route. I truthfully wouldn't like people going through my house I had contracted out. It's not like they can really secure them though. When our townhome was being built, my husband went to the site on the weekends and installed special wiring. LOL.

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    1. When we moved into our house, our neighbors all had been inside of it many times as it was being built - yeah, it's a weird feeling but I guess it's pretty standard, to want to see new builds.

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  5. What a fun way to look at new homes! I've run more this summer with someone else than ever before. It certainly is a nice change of pace (pun intended!). Cary mileage is very impressive!

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    1. I love running with a group! And I agree, Cary did great yesterday!

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  6. No pictures = no evidence LOL.

    Glad Cary is back on the track. I think an extended maternity leave sounds like a reasonable request.

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  7. What? I didn't comment this morning? What is wrong with me. Anyway, looking at new floor plans fascinates me, and getting to look inside the actual houses is even better. So excited for your cool temps, even if they didn't last. And I LOL'd at scaring yourselves with your flashing safety lights!

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  8. You are always having fun. Way to go.

    Glad you have one of your buddies back.

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  9. I love looking at houses along a route while out for a long run! My running buddy and I do it all the time! Too funny you guys thought you were busted… Glad it was only your own lights!

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  10. I love exploring stuff like that!!! And old abandoned houses too!!!

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