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Our long run on Saturday turned into somewhat of an obstacle course. Julia and I wanted to run 5 miles, so we ended up mapping out the same run around the university - and oddly enough, Map My Run rerouted both of us a couple of places, but we figured it was just being dumb. Hey, guess who is smart? Map My Run. Guess who ran into road/sidewalk closures due to major construction? If you're guessing me and Julia, well, you would be correct.
So there we were, in the dark since we started at 5:30 am, chugging along, when all of a sudden there were barricades, temporary fencing, torn up sidewalks and roads - oh, it was fun. We had to pick our way through clumpy dirt paths, squeeze around fences, duck under barricades (they didn't mean for US to stay out, right?) - needless to say, we got some unplanned walking breaks in. And then, when we thought we were through with that mess, we turned the corner, and MORE construction! We were lucky that there wasn't much traffic that time of day, because we ended up in the street more than we would have liked.
What did we learn from this run? Well, for starters, that was a terrible route. Also, it might be a good idea to drive a route that you haven't run, just to be sure it's doable. But on the good side, we felt like the police were looking out for us as we ran, since we saw the same patrol car at least 3 times, and another couple of campus police/sheriff patrol cars as well. Nice to know that they're out there, especially since we were running in a new (to us) area. And by the time I get back from vacation, I think we'll just do the group runs, where we'll have a much better "safety in numbers" thing going on - plus a better route as well.
Oh, and as for the 5 mile run itself? Let's just say it felt great once we hit about 3 miles. The first couple of miles were struggles with heat (really, 78 degrees at 5:30 in the morning?!), my anxiety breathing and the unplanned "trail run" through construction, but once we hit mile 3, we sailed along! I told Julia that if she could invent something where we just magically started running at mile 3, I would appreciate it very much. I'm sure she's working on it as you read this.
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This morning, Barbara, Theresa and I are run/walking the local Firecracker 5K - love that Barbara and I have managed to find a race to do together every time I visit her since I started running, and I especially love that Theresa is now ready to join us! Should be a blast (haha, get it?).
Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!
Im taking today off from workouts and ON for snocones and silliness.
ReplyDeleteHAVE A GREAT DAY!!
Happy Independence Day Shelley.
ReplyDeleteI would be stubborn too and ignore Mapmyrun :)
On the bright sight: you got a dirty mud run with obstacles all for free :)
Great that you could run with Barbara and Theresa!
I've done that same thing using MapMyRun. Only it didn't warn me that the road I was picking might not be the best... There was this road, out by the park where I run a lot, that I kept passing and one day I realized I'd seen both ends of it so maybe I should just take it one day. The next week I needed an add-on for a long run so I went on MapMyRun and routed myself that way. OY. First of all it was super hilly and windey and secondly, literally there was no place to run except in the road! I was never happier than when I came out the other end and felt safe again.
ReplyDeleteHave a great race today!
45 miles for June! That is amazing. Too bad about your MapMyRun. A bad route can really ruin a run, but you were out there and did it! Good luck on the run today.
ReplyDeleteHa! Maybe all the police were looking for the dangerous criminals who broke through the barricade LOL. Happy fourth!
ReplyDeleteWe do that with biking. John will map a route and will view some of it with Google earth, but then we get on it and the road is too dangerous in parts.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to race today! Happy 4th!
ReplyDeleteI missed you on Monday. Man, I have really become dependent on your Mon,Wed,Fri updates. Hope your trip is just THE BEST!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that mapmyrun can tell you about road work, interesting! Hope you had a great 4th and a fun 5k!
ReplyDeleteWow that's a heck of a lot of miles for June. Way to go!! The 5k probably feels like a breeze after the longer runs now. So proud of you and think of you every time I'm out there!
ReplyDeleteYou know, don't you, that you inspire me to get on with my runs even tho it's hot and horrible outside? I had to make a few detours this morning, too, around a couple enormous trees that came down in our big storm and were being removed from the path I run. I don't like taking detours, especially across uneven, bumpy grass parts. I'm heading to my running store this morning to check out the colored running socks you mentioned. Need to find a way to keep DH from borrowing my socks! Bright pink might do it.
ReplyDeleteHI! LEMME JUST SAY THIS...YOU ROCK!!!! I'M NEW TO BLOGGER & HAVE STARTED A WEIGHT LOSS BLOG CALLED "FIT ME: MY JOURNEY, MY WEIGH". I'M WORKIN ON LOSIN 67 LBS BUT THOUGHT IT MAY BE ROUGH GIVEN MY AGE (37) AND MY FOOD ADDICTION. IT'S NOT MY FIRST RODEO, I'VE YO-YO'D ALL MY LIFE, BUT I WANT THIS TO BE MY FINAL ATTEMPT. FINAL BEING THAT 1)I WILL GET THERE THIS TIME, 2)I WILL KEEP IT OFF, 3)I NURTURE AND MAINTAIN A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE & NOT JUST QUIT WHEN I REACH MY GOAL WEIGHT. ANYWAY, A COUPLE YEARS AGO I ALSO GOT BIT BY THE RUNNING BUG. JUST LIKE U, I'D NEVER BEEN ATHLETIC OR PLAYED TEAM SPORTS IN SCHOOL AND IN MY MIND I WAS LIKE "WHAT AM I THINKIN WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO ME??" BUT AS OF TOMORROW, I AM IN WEEK 3 OF THE C25K TRAINING PROGRAM. I DESPERATELY WANNA RUN IN THE BREAST CANCER RACE COME OCTOBER! IT'S ONE OF MY GOALS. I JUST WANTED TO LET YA KNOW THAT I'D BEEN PERUSING SOME OF UR ENTRIES AND YOU ARE SOOOO INSPIRATIONAL & MOTIVATIONAL!!! THANKS FOR SHARING UR SOTRY! I'M ADDING U TO MY LIST OF BLOGS I READ. MAYBE IF U HAVE A MINIT U CAN VISIT MINE? HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!
ReplyDeleteXOXO
JOJO
PS: UR PINK BIKE KICKS MAJOR BOOTY! TOO CUTE!!!! :)