Life's little adventures, accompanied by a running watch

Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Blurry June

June has been blurry because SO MUCH has been happening!  I realize it’s not quite over yet, but here’s a little snapshot of my busy June….
  • I had a birthday
  • We celebrated our wedding anniversary
  • We got a great hike in
  • We attended our niece’s engagement party
  • We attended a graduation party
  • We attended a neighborhood cookout/party
  • We spectated at a friend’s 100 mile race (of course I haven’t been googling 100 mile races…that would just be silly)
  • We celebrated 2 other birthdays
  • We signed up for a couple more races (more to come)
  • I've had a TON of work stuff happening (more to come)
  • I got myself covered in poison ivy
  • And of course, I ran.
As we head into July, it’s going to get C-R-A-Z-Y.  Crazy in a good way, of course.  Stay tuned!


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Turning my frown upside down

My plan today was to dash out for a run as soon as my meeting ended at 11:00.  With another meeting at 1:00, I had plenty of time to change, run, shower, and even eat my lunch.  However, I procrastinated.  I wasn’t feeling it.  As the clock ticked to 11:10, and then 11:15, I texted Scott:

“I don’t feel like running L

His reply:

“Maybe just go out and see how you feel”

That worked like a charm!  I conquered the crankiness, the dreariness of today, and the weight of too many to-do’s at work and got myself out for a run.


Within the first mile, I proceeded to pass a woman walking her dog.  I love dogs, but have a healthy respect for them.  So, I overly avoided the dog and ran on the grass.  Wait, did I say grass?  I meant swamp.  Yes, swamp most definitely articulates what I stepped into!  Before I knew it, I was ankle deep in a soggy grassy area and it seemed like it went on like that forever!
This is a re-creation; no real blades of grass were injured in the filming
The woman I passed must have realized what was happening and yelled after me, “I’m so sorry!”.  She sounded genuine and frankly, she didn’t make me overly avoid her dog, so how could I be annoyed?  I ended up laughing out loud at myself and the situation.  Shoes immediately soaked, I pressed on with a big fat smile on my face, laughing at myself and enjoying every minute of it.  For someone who had procrastinated getting out there, I sure did have myself a good time!

And a pretty damn good progression run too, if I say so myself:


I can recall times when I succumbed to the “don’t feel like running” feeling and regretted that decision almost immediately, but I can honestly say I’ve never regretted heading out for a run.  Today was no exception.


Anyone ever regret going for a run vs. not going for a run? 
 


Saturday, June 1, 2013

A funny thing happened on our hike today…

…..we hit snow!  Now I realize 4000+ footers often have snow at their summits.  But this day that we hiked Mt. Moosilauke, it was June 1st and 90 degrees!  But let me start at the beginning.

Scott had a great idea to grab a day hike up in the White Mountains.  Though we would have loved to tow our pop up camper and make a full weekend out of it, we had other plans already for Sunday.  So a day hike would have to do.  After an early wake up call, we headed North to our destination of Mount Moosilauke. We’ve hiked this mountain before, but it was a very different weather day and it was several years ago.  So for me, it felt like a brand new mountain to conquer.

We immediately hit rushing water, so Bella was diggin’ that…

Good thing she cooled off, because we had quite a bit of ascending to do….

We danced our usual dance whenever we hike; Scott practically runs up the mountain, while I practically run down the mountain.  Not sure if its long legs or center of gravity, but it all evens out in the end.  A little over 2 hours later and 4800 feet up, we were treated to the most spectacular panoramic view…


And a couple more, because I’m so afraid I’m not doing it justice…



And this is what it looked like from my Garmin’s point of view –


As we started our descent, lo and behold….SNOW!  On June 1st with 90 degree temperatures at the bottom, we hit snow…..


We stopped for lunch, some chillin, and for Bella, more swimming in this little hideaway….

What a fantastic day!  Sun, fun, singing on the trails (not as much as usual….I was really working!), splashing, beautiful views….it was just perfect.  Did I mention NO wireless, NO internet and, other than using my phone for its camera, NO cell phone.  My head is clear, my face feels sun-kissed, my shoulders/back are just a touch sore from carrying my pack, and my legs feel like they climbed a 4800 footer.  And liked it.

By 7pm, we’re all struggling to stay awake.    These are the days that really remind me to break away and do something that I don’t HAVE to do but instead WANT to do. 

I hope you’re all doing fun stuff that you WANT to do this weekend!