10 Days ...

... Since I last posted. How have I not made time to write this before now? Sheesh. And it's not like I've been super busy ... time just got away from me. Oh well. Let me esplain. No, let me sum up! (Name that movie!) I'll include some pictures to make up for all the text I'm about to blast you with.

Ready to go!

Last Saturday was pretty awesome. I ROCKED Happy Trails 5k. M decided to run it WITH me since he was in town for the weekend without the wifey (he hurt his hamstring so he's pouting about running "slow" while it heals). His wife probably isn't going to like this statement (sorry, E!), but I love that boy to death. He was one of the people who pushed me towards running when I was dealing with all that crap in my life and continues to be one of my biggest supporters. He knows EXACTLY how to push my buttons to make me run faster. He knew pointing out those teenage girls at the start line who talked through the National Anthem would tick me off and make me start faster to get ahead of them [proud granddaughter, niece, and friend of veterans and I've been raised to respect all symbols of our country: anthem, flag, etc.]. He knew telling me I couldn't do something would make me push that much harder to do it, even if it meant keeping me ticked off for all 3.1 miles. So thanks, M ... I think. lol. The best part? I beat my "old" 5k PR ... which was set on a relatively straight road course. ON TRAILS! I really think all the trail running paid off. I just FELT strong. You transition from pavement to sand/ dirt just past halfway and while others faded a bit, I pushed forward and felt "in my element." Is it weird that even though I felt like I was pushing my hardest during the race and almost threw up at the finish line (seriously, I was dry-heaving over a trash can next to a vendor booth), I walked away thinking "I could have run that even faster"? I haven't seen any pictures yet, but I'm sure I was grinning like a crazy person as I sprinted through the finish line. I'm pretty sure M and I scared the crap out of the people in the car next to us on the highway heading home because we were getting our dance party on, blasting LMFAO and whatever other crazy songs we could find on my iPod. :)

I hadn't been home more than an hour when I got a phone call saying I had won a door prize from one of the race's sponsors ... 3 canisters of Reliv's innergize (2 lemon and 1 orange). I'd never heard of it before, but I'm slowly learning. Maybe I'll do a review of it someday, but you can check out the link I provided for the product's website for details now. And, really, this little win came at an interesting time for me. Money is a little tight around here, so I've fallen back to my old friend Gatorade instead of spending the money on nuun or Zipfizz. Don't get me wrong, I love nuun and Zipfizz, but they just don't fit in my budget right now. I'm not particularly fond of how much sugar there is in Gatorade (especially with my family history of diabetes and my attempt to cut some sugar OUT of my diet lately), but it's worked for me for years. Our local Sam's stocks the big 76.5 ounce canisters of the Frost Glacier Freeze (the blue kind), my favorite, so I'm good to go for a little while (thanks mommy!). After a conversation with the Reliv product rep when I picked up my prize and a good friend who's a nurse and nutrition student, I decided to take my 8 oz serving of the innergize an hour or 2 before any runs or workouts (up to 2 a day) and rely on my gatorade to get me through the exercise. I've been doing this for a week now and everything seems to be going ok. We've had some obnoxiously hot days and I've done some seriously crazy runs in that heat (which I'll talk about more later), but I haven't gotten any dehydration headaches or muscle cramps. So, something seems to be working.

I had planned on Happy Trails being my last race before my September half marathon, but my cousin's wife messaged me about a 5k they they're going to be running this coming weekend for the church they both work for, the Global Distance Project 5k. My first inclination was to just go watch the hilarity of my cousin running a 5k, but his wife talked me into running it with them. So, one more.

We had 2 days of crazy thunderstorms at the beginning of last week, which of course I loved. Besides loving storms, I really enjoy getting out and seeing how rain water flows through our environment. It's the envrio science nerd in me, what can I say. :) I was out driving around when one of the biggest waves of storms came through so I headed to the nearest metropark, Side Cut. Boy, did I get a surprise!

Bench under water, broken pavement (already broken before storm, but had been
eroded and damaged even more), and  "bridge" about to go under water.

What I'm not showing you is that right above all this are 3 old canal locks. Normally, water barely trickles through them. That day, it was rushing. Somewhere up-run, there was a system that just wasn't able to keep up with the amount of water that was flowing. While I knew this wasn't a good thing, I was absolutely fascinated. I probably spent a half hour wandering up and down the walkways along the locks trying to take pictures from under my umbrella.

The ungodly hot and humid day after all the storms, I went for my normal run at Oak Openings. I should have known I'd find a tree down across my planned trail. *rolls eyes* And, because I was too stubborn to re-route my run, I decided to go THROUGH it (there was no going around it - the ferns were too thick). There was a fork in the branches that I knew I'd fit through, so I went for it. Stupid me. The branches scratched up my right thigh and ankle pretty good (which was really uncomfortable as my legs got sweaty later on the run), but it wasn't until the next morning that I noticed I had HUGE BRUISES striping my thigh as well. This really was the trail run from hell. Once I completed the Sand Dunes loop, I switched over to the Ferns and Lakes loop, which was an even bigger mistake. I really should have just called it a day and gone home. Besides almost stepping on a squirrel AND a snake (only the 2nd time I've EVER seen a snake ON a trail over there), the heat and humidity trapped in the woods just drained me and I had to abort the loop and run back to the car on the paved portion of the all-purpose trail. It ended up being about the same mileage as I would have done, but a LOT less stress and effort.

And, of course, this was also the day we couldn't get any relief from the heat at home either. We found out the a/c was broken when we went to turn it on (house actually got 5* HOTTER), and the chlorinator in the pool malfunctioned and the chlorine got so high your eyes burned just going NEAR it! We completely detached the chlorinator and it's JUST getting down to the level where swimming is comfortable again. As for the a/c? There was a wire broken on the compressor (we suspect dad did it when he decided to power-wash that side of the house 2 weeks ago). It took the repair guy 5 minutes to find and replace it. $85. Ugh. Let's just say everyone in our house was a little testy for a couple days. I pretty much holed up in my bedroom with my 3 fans, cups of ice, and movies when I wasn't freezing my butt off in my basement lab on campus. If I wasn't already intimately aware of the creepy crawlies and odd late-night sounds down there, I may have just brought an air mattress to campus and spent the nights down in the lab. The last time I bothered to look at the thermostat in there (it reads the temp but doesn't actually control anything ... how crappy is that?!), which was Thursday afternoon, it read 62*. I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeve tee all day.

Saturday is, of course, long run day for me. Since I had a 5k last weekend and another this coming weekend, I NEEDED to do a long run THIS weekend. I hadn't really explored the towpath trail between Bend View and Providence so I figured I'd run down to Providence and back, and maybe down to the Bend View shelter house and back depending on how I felt. According to the sign, it was 3.2 miles to Providence from the Bend View parking lot. To keep me from constantly watching my Garmin, I turned it on my wrist. The run TO Providence was pretty nice, actually. Even with the oppressive heat, I was in the shade and catching the breeze off the river for most of the way. Once I reached the dam, I looked at my Garmin. Almost 5 miles. Crap. This was already turning out to be a longer run than I had wanted. Since one of my fuel belt bottles was already dry, I tried to find a drinking fountain around the mill to refill it. No luck. I tried the water from the sink in the bathroom, but it was just plain nasty. I would have thrown up if I tried to drink that on a run. So, long story made WAY short: ran out of water around 7 miles. Walk intervals got longer and more frequent until I decided I couldn't run any more. Inhaled an entire bottle of Gatorade once I stumbled back to my car. My legs felt completely trashed all day yesterday and they're still a little tired today. I need to get better with my hydration and nutrition. Quick. But at least my first 9.5-miler is in the books :)

... And now I need to go because I'm getting trash talk texts about Saturday's 5k. I love that boy, but I'm going to kick his butt! I love my family :)

Dodge the caterpillars and acorns!

I'll get to today's run and the explanation of this entry's title in a minute, but I need to set the (mental) scene. I talked about my *spectacular* fall leaving the wedding reception in my last post, but what I never really touched on was HOW sore my knees, right ankle, and wrist are. I spent yesterday hopping around the house with my ankle brace on, but couldn't put my knee brace on because of where the bruise was. Think about where your knee touches the ground and takes your weight when you kneel down. Yea, RIGHT THERE. It's a little more colorful today than it was yesterday, too, but that could have been from the multiple times I kneeled down yesterday without thinking and instantly fell over sideways cursing and almost crying it hurt so bad.

So, needless to say, I didn't get a workout in yesterday like I had wanted, especially on pavement. I just didn't want to take the chance with my knees and ankle feeling the way they are.

And then there was last night. I was so jazzed about the incoming thunderstorm that I was having problems falling asleep. I finally dozed off a little before 3, right around the time the rain was starting. 3:15 on the dot, I hear my bedroom doorknob (it's kinda loud because it catches during the warm, humid months when the door swells). I figured mom or dad had been woken up by the storm and were just checking windows. That would have made SENSE. Well, it WAS mom, and instead of just LOOKING the extra 3 feet to see that my window was already closed enough that rain wasn't going to come in, she stands in my doorway and WAKES ME UP to ask if my window is closed. *headdesk* I ended up laying there watching the storm another 30+ minutes before I could fall back asleep which, of course, meant I slept in this morning and never made it to campus.

So, with not running in a couple days and (I guess) resentment towards my mother and my paper, I was desperate for some physical activity today. My knees felt a little bit better but I was still cautious of pavement or the treadmill. Thank goodness we have an amazing Metroparks system in this area with plenty of great trails. This being the middle of the week and the middle of the day, the dune trail was DESERTED. Well, deserted except for about a billion caterpillars ... and the acorns and mops of wet leaves falling out of the trees. I kind of felt like I was on one of those wacky game shows where you have to dodge things thrown at you: "Don't look up or you'll step on a caterpillar. Don't loop down or you'll get hit by something falling out of a tree." It was entertaining ... and the spongy ground felt good on my legs. I had to walk more than I would have liked, but I got out there and did it. Maybe now I can start getting back to my regular workout schedule.

Oh, and the best part of that run? Coming home and jumping in the pool (sweaty sports bra and undies, oh yea). The thermometer SAID 80*, but that was the coldest 80* I've ever felt. Of course, today was the first day back for the local K-12 and the afternoon bus with the younger kids was coming through the neighborhood just as I jumped in the pool and popped back up, cursing and spazzing over the temperature of the water. Oops. lol

And now ... the countdown is on to tonight's episode of "Ghost Hunters". I'm giddy like a little kid. Seriously, it's an addiction. Anyone else with me? :D

Today's Plan

Just so it's out in the blogiverse and I can be held responsible ...

1) Talk to advisor-man. The GPR equipment was sitting RIGHT in front of my desk in the lab this morning, so I know he's back in town. Hopefully he'll be in his office in about a half hour.
2) Sign up for my 1 credit hour (grrrrr) and pay the bill right away (even more grrrrr)
3) Find out what I need to do about my grad school/ graduation paperwork (at least I know who to talk to for this, if she isn't too busy)
4) Run (at least 3 miles ... on trails [shins are still achy from the road run Tues morning])
5) Start my one hundred pushups challenge (I did the test last week, time to start the reps)
6) Start my plank challenge

LOVE Evergreen Lake!

I pulled my usual "my paper is driving me nuts. I need to get out of the house. I'll go hunt Metroparks code words" stunt again yesterday. Even though I worked from home, and I slept in, staring at my computer screen for a couple hours made me want to scream.

Oak Openings' code word locations always interest me. This week's clue had you parking along the side of the road up at the Girdham/Sager Rd intersection and hauling in along a horse trail until you found where the Hiking/Scout Trail intersected it. Now, it was almost exactly a quarter of a mile in off the road, and it's a straight shot, but I can once again see someone with kids objecting to finding this week's word purely because of the amount on manure on the trail. The manure wouldn't have bothered me a bit had I been in my hiking boots or old tennis shoes, but I was already in my runners. So, my urge to sprint from the code word location back to my car was thwarted. I had to pick my way along the side of the trail and pray I wouldn't find any fresh piles. lol. I wonder how many people specifically parked further south along Girdham and followed the longer stretch of the Hiking Trail just to avoid the horse trail? This is the kind of thing that interests me. lol.

I can't believe I don't spend more time over at Evergreen Lake (Oak Openings)! I can't remember having spent any time there since we used the lake for canoeing for the Girl Scout Day Camp YEARS ago, which is a sad thing. If you can ignore the sight of the algae bloom overtaking the lake and the (sometimes) smell, it really has a nice little trail that runs around the perimeter. It's only 1.4 miles, but it really is a TRAIL trail. The contours of the lake provide a nice back-and-forth and you're always having to pay attention because of tree roots, low branch, or a quick turn in the trail. There is an area on the west side of the lake where you have to pay attention to the trail markers (and maybe guess) because you criss-cross the horse trail/rest area and the beginning of the all-purpose trail, but it's great fun. There are even a couple areas that are semi-clear that you can push your speed a bit more without worry of hurting yourself on a root. My "official" time for 1.29 miles was 16:28.62, but it should have been faster. I got flustered when I got to the horse rest area (which isn't on the map) and stopped for a second to get my bearings. Also, I had planned on walking once around the trail and then trying to run another lap. Not so surprisingly, As soon as I got out on the trail, I wanted to GO. So, I just made the 1 lap. Short run, yes, but I ran 3 miles the day before and my ankle was already a bit iffy. Plus, I wanted to head over to Farnsworth and find its code too. It was an almost-fun run, though. I haven't quite gotten to the point of calling running "fun" yet. lol

The code word at Farnsworth was super-easy to find. lol. It was in one of my favorite spots, actually. There's an old bridge that crosses the river at the very north east end of the park (the overlook is actually the start of the trail system and tow path), and around it is a GREAT area to scramble down the embankment and play in the river. The water is shallow and warm (usually) and there are plenty of things to explore around the bridge.

See?! Isn't it just the cutest little area?! It was actually just upriver from here where I was splashing around on my birthday last week. I have some better pictures of the bridge itself on my camera. I promised N I'd dig them out the other day and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I don't know if I'll get a run in today or not. I've already run 2 days in a row (which is usually when my legs start arguing), though shorter distances. The major factor is my sinuses. Apparently, my sinuses aren't happy ... again. It started out as just in the evenings they'd go crazy (I still say it's the air conditioning ... happens every time we turn it on), but I woke up this morning miserable and I haven't stopped sneezing and blowing my nose since. Yes, I've already taken my Claratin-D. It isn't doing much, unfortunately. If it IS the a/c, it probably doesn't help that I'm sitting in a basement lab that is currently about 60*. The temperature in this lab is just another one of those goofy things we've been dealing with. This past winter, it was in the 80s down here, and now that they've turned off the steam for the construction outside our building, it's freezing down here. We keep long-sleeve shirts in the lab for during the day. It's crazy.

Alright, I guess I should get back to work. I said I would take a break from writing my paper to blog and listen to a podcast and the podcast just ended. Back to the grind. lol

License, passport, and more hours in the day, please!

Yesterday wasn't the amazing continuance of my birthday week like I had wanted, but it wasn't bad either. I let myself sleep in an extra hour (I was supposed to get up an run but realized it wasn't going to happen the second my alarm went off) and then play around on my laptop until I knew government offices would be open. Since I'm turning 25, I need a new driver's license (grr) and FINALLY getting my passport seemed like a pretty smart idea too (I got my original juvenile one for the  Europe trip in 2001 ... it expired in 2006. oops). Normally I cringe at the idea of the BMV office on Heatherdowns, but it was the closest to home and in a perfect location for me to swing back through Maumee and just take care of my passport at the Maumee Post Office. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the BMV. I was able to walk right up to the counter and I was walking out with my new license in less than 15 minutes. I hate to say it, because the woman who helped me was so nice, but 3/4 of the women in that office fit the horrible cliche of overweight and facial hair. The woman who helped me SERIOUSLY had a grey mustache! *shakes head* 

Anyway, like I said, I stopped back at the Maumee Post Office to take care of my passport. It's one of the few processing places in the area where you can also get your picture done. I could have gone up the AAA and gotten my pictures done for half price, but I didn't want to go out of my way. I was pleasantly surprised at the post office, too. Even though there was only one woman working, I was done and out of there in less than 15 minutes too. I guess it helps when you already have all the paperwork filled out and you just need the pictures and the final signatures. The fact that there was no other customers when I got there probably made it quicker too. lol.

Happy, but slightly poorer (holy crap passports are expensive), I headed home to pack up my stuff and head into campus for the day. Taking all that stuff WITH me would have been the smart thing to do, but I had planned to eat lunch at home so I wouldn't be tempted to pick up fast-food on my way into town. Luckily mom and Sean were getting home from their morning errands right around the time I was. I could tell mom was already driving Sean crazy and he wanted a break so when she mentioned wanting to go into campus to do something she couldn't do from home, I all but pushed her out the door and said I would work from home the rest of the day.

After a couple hours of working on my computer, I started getting antsy. This happens no matter WHERE I work, but it's been getting worse as my stress over upcoming deadlines goes up. Since I was already at home, and I still hadn't done my miles yet (love sleeping in but hate the consequences of NOT doing my miles before the sun comes up), I headed over to Oak Openings. I didn't want to run, but I still enjoy walking the trails. After hitting the Horseshoe Lake Loop to find this week's code word, I did most of the Sand Dune trail, minus the dune ridge itself, and headed up the W-C trail connector to find an access point to the ridge (silver) trail. I now know that the north side of the ridge trail is clear (even where it was re-routed to avoid a knocked-down bridge), and I recognized where that side of the loop met back up with the lead-in trail, so I must have been on the back (south-west) side when I got goofed up a couple weeks ago. There is another access point further south on the W-C connector so maybe I'll have to try there next. Since my ranger buddy couldn't tell me anything more than I already knew, maybe I'll digitize one of the park maps and impose my gps routes over it. There's always a chance (though a slim one) that I somehow missed a connector and ended up on a different trail. If not, I can take it directly to someone at Metroparks and ask more specific questions. I understand they can't keep reproducing maps every time they work in a different area of storm damage, but that was a pretty big difference. Super confusing. Whatever. Guess I'll check it out next time we have a cloudy day because there is NO WAY I'm knowingly taking a trail that skirts the big prairie area and storm damage when it's sunny and hot. I felt like I was roasting while I was on the north edge of the ridge loop yesterday.

I'm torn. I don't know if I should continue just running as I have been, trying to build up my distance and time on my own, listening to my body and to my surroundings, or if I should try the 'Bridge to 10k' program. I'm a little annoyed that the only program podcasts I could find were for the iPhone/iPod touch and you have to pay for them. Grr. But, I did hunt down a written version of the training schedule. I GUESS I could do that now that I have my Garmin and have figured out how to program workouts. Maybe I should just get myself to the point where I can run an entire 5k without stopping first, eh? Some more cross-training wouldn't kill me, either. I have a bike (2, in fact ... once i fix my road bike), a cyclocomputer, and access to a great trail system (not to mention I just get 1 mile out of my town and it's all country roads).

As soon as I get this page of revisions done (after I post this blog), I think I'm off to Waterville to run the tow path. I KNOW it's going to be a miserable run with the heat and humidity, but I need to get it done. And I can't just do it on the treadmill tonight. I'm headed to Sarah's for some 'Pure Romance' shenanigans. It should be interesting. Haha.

Still no plans for tomorrow, though mom did ask me last night what I wanted for my birthday. I didn't know how to answer since most of the things I want right now are either expensive or something you just can't buy. I hate asking for something expensive (even something like making a payment on my car loan) because I'm already living at home and the parents are paying for my car insurance, gas, and the interest on my student loans. Anyway, I'm ok with not having plans. I like being able to do whatever I fancy. It's not that I won't do ANYTHING, it's that I refuse to only have the choices of plan a party or something for myself or stay home with my family. Plus, I really DO have work to do. The world doesn't stop spinning just because it's my birthday. lol

A great start to my birthday week :)

What a day. Wow. I had planned on today being a complete crap shoot, but it came out pretty darn decent. Since I knew it was going to get hot, humid, and disgusting today, I planned to wake up at 5:15am and head out in the neighborhoods to get my run in. Well, 5:15 came and I decided it was still too dark for me to run (I REALLY need to get "dark gear" because the days are only getting shorter at this point). Repeat process again at 5:30 with one exception ... I decided I should at least get up and get ready to go so as soon as it was light enough that drivers would see my white shirt, I could go. The street lights were still on and I still had a little trouble reading my Garmin, but I went out around 5:45 (when I usually go out for road runs anyway).

The run went great. Once I hit my 0.5 miles of warm-up, I turned my Garmin away on my wrist so I couldn't focus on it and decided to pay attention to my body. I marked each walk/run transition with a "lap", so I could analyze it later ... and WOW was I surprised ...

Lap 1 (warm up) - 0.5mi @ 16:45/mi avg

Lap 2 - 2.2mi @ 11:41/mi avg

Lap 3 (water break) - 0.16mi @ 17:17/mi avg

Lap 4 - 0.72mi @ 11:20/mi avg

Lap 5 (cool down) - 0.25mi @ 16:57/mi avg

TOTAL = 3.83mi in 49:20.59 (avg of 12:52/mi)

My jaw literally dropped when I saw that my first "run" was 2.2 miles, non-stop. It was almost 26 minutes! That's a personal best for running on the road! Yes, I did the whole Couch to 5k program, but I did that on the treadmill and just never seemed able to do as well once I got out on the road. I've read before that running on trails, even with more walking breaks, trains your body much harder to the point that road running, at any distance, seems much easier. Apparently that little nugget of wisdom is true. If that's the case, I think I need to keep up this trend of running at the metroparks whenever possible. Running trails keeps my head straight too. Even though I can't remember one song I listened to on my iPod this morning when I was running, I know I would have been micro-analyzing how my body felt if I hadn't had my music to distract me a bit.

I have a goal of running/walking/hiking 25 miles this week for my 25th birthday ... I think that run was a pretty darn good start, if I do say so myself. lol

Working in the lab was just like it always is ... sitting there, typing on my laptop, highlighting things in papers I want to remember, scribbling notes on my already-scribbled-on pages, strange noises from the hall. Yep, typical day. Don't want to talk about how high my stress level is right now. I don't know how I'm going to pull this off.

I stopped at Wildwood to find this week's code word. I figured I would stop over at TBG and get that one too, but the rain started coming down just as I pulled in. I braved it with my tiny umbrella, but couldn't find it. I guess I'll have to check back over there later this week. I made a stop in at Secor too, since I knew I could drive all the way up to the cemetery and get the code without getting wet.

I left my phone in my bag for a while when I got home and ended up missing a call. I just started giggling when I finally got around to listening to it. It was someone from Metroparks, letting me know I was Week 6's winner! I won a $150 giftcard to the Anderson's and a $15 giftcard from PNC. Yippee.

And now ... as I'm typing this ... there is an entertaining conversation about planning a bachelorette party going on in facebook land.

I guess I'm getting my passport tomorrow while I'm out getting my new driver's license (boo on them for being pink now and not using an old picture! I LOVE my picture form when I turned 21!).

If the rest of this birthday week is anything like today, I'm going to be a very happy girl. And my fingers are still crossed for a certain someone to pick a side of the fence. And have the guts to do something about it. :)

Fab-U-Lous!

Other than mom waiting on Sean hand and foot (to the point that both he and I are rolling our eyes), things have been pretty quiet here at home. I didn't sleep well (surprisingly), so I decided to stay home and work today. When I'm just writing, and I'm not getting paid anyway, it doesn't really matter WHERE I work, does it?

I had a fabulous run yesterday afternoon. At the last second, I decided I wanted to run at Wildwood Metropark. It was a favorite place of mine when I lived right around the corner and I realize I haven't gotten a code word for their "big search" from Wildwood in a couple weeks. Oak Openings' code words are normally someplace I run by anyway and just happen to see the word. Every other park, I actually have to make an effort to go find the stupid easel with the code word. I never hope to find all the code words each week; it's just too much driving, but I'm happy if I get 2 or 3. Every time I get Wildwood's, I just stop at the Botanical Gardens (another of my favorite places) and find theirs too.

Like I was saying before that little rant (lol), my run was fabulous. I had thought the heat was going to be a serious issue, but I made sure to wear my nike dry-fit tank, my baseball cap (explanation later), and carry my water bottle. Normally I just wear sunglasses when I run instead of my hat (I have enough problems with acne without a sweaty hat sitting on my forehead for a period of time), but I didn't have my yellowed glasses with me and I don't like wearing anything darker when I'm running in the woods. There is plenty of light even in the darkest areas of Wildwood's "Upland Woods" trail (unlike some of OO's), but I still don't like it. I trip over things really easily and I knew I was going to have to be playing close attention to where I was stepping. While I LOVE the diversity of OO's "woodsy" trails, most of them are pretty narrow and uneven. Wildwood's trails are pretty wide and smooth(ish). I still can't decide if I like having the wooden slats dug into the foreside of the dunes or not. It's nice to not be digging into the sand trying to go up the dune, but DAMN those things are slippery even when they're dry! My run took me across the boardwalk of the Floodplain Trail (blue) too, which was kind of fun actually. After a bout of "roughing it" in the dunes section, it was nice to have a (semi) level area for a comfortable stable pace. Even after a week of not running, I could feel the shift in my body as I decided to run. Of course I wish I could have run MORE, but I was just happy I didn't automatically cringe every time I picked the pace back up. I kind of wish I would have made more use the the boardwalk for some shorter sprints. I should run at Wildwood more often. I can really get some interesting miles out of their combination of trails. Oak Openings will always be my favorite (and go-to when I want REAL woods), but Wildwood is pretty amazing too.

How can anyone stand running longer distances on roads after spending time on trails like these? Ugh. My shins seem to like trail running a helluva lot more too. lol. Since the Metroparks don't open until 7am, I'm still forced to run through the neighborhood and village if I want to escape the heat with an early morning run ... I can't believe how boring that sounds now. *laughs to self* Who knew running ANYWHERE for ANY length of time would make ME happy?! If my high school self could see me now ... Now if only I can work on running further and faster. All in good time, I guess.

If you want to check out my log (and map) for yesterday's run ...
http://www.dailymile.com/people/JessLK721/entries/8243864

If anyone ever wants to check out ANY of the Toledo Metroparks (even for just a walk), I'm all ears. lol. Really, I can't believe the change in me since I started running. It isn't so much a physical change as a mental one. I see myself differently when I look in the mirror. I don't just see the number on the scale. I see the muscles and the effort I put into going that distance every time I lace up my running shoes. I see the difference in my health and how I carry myself. Hydration is still a bit of trial and error (I have always gotten dehydrated easily), but I'm learning. Mom is trying to be more conscious of what she makes for family meals because she knows I won't eat the same thing every other night and I know what I should be eating to stay healthy and fit. Fitness is a struggle in my family, and I like to think that I'm leading the charge, in a way. Eh, maybe not, but I know my parents look at me a bit differently than they used to, even when I was a rower.