Saturday's run: Joliet to Columbus
Just a few rolling hills.
But at least it was a beautiful day.
So many things worth stopping to look at.
Rewards that follow uphills (that says 7%). There were three of these!
It was a bumpy day at the office. Honestly, this route killed me. I was so ready to be done by the time I got to Columbus that I don't know if you could have bribed me to get that extra mile.
The river makes the best ice bath!
So I could do my planned route, Mitch had to drop me off in Joliet and drive the truck to Columbus. He then rode his bicycle back to Joliet and then back to Columbus for a 37 mile ride. We got done pretty close to the same time.
In typical Memorial Day weekend fashion, we had hamburgers and fries (mmmmm... garlic fries) for lunch and then Beddar Cheddars with chili and potato salad for dinner. We may have gone out for ice cream at the Big Dipper too.
Sunday's run ~ Mitch's last "long" run before Yellowstone Half Marathon
Break time at the midway point.
I planned for us to go 11 miles, and Mitch was having a day much like I had the day before. He's definitely not a quitter and he wouldn't hear of turning around early. In fact, he insisted on making it a half-marathon day. And so we did.
His run, but he still insists on getting pics of me for the blog. I kind of like this one
(I'm eating Jelly Beans).
Running with a buddy has turned out to be pretty awesome for these long runs. I almost always run solo, but since Mitch has been training to do some races with me we have been running together often. When I go for long runs I run like its all business. It's all about pushing myself to my limits, playing mental games to teach my body that I can run in spite of what my brain wants to tell me. Running with Mitch takes the pressure off. We walk a bit (sometimes a lot), we have good conversations and best of all we take a "mini-picnic" break when it's time to refuel. He probably doesn't know (at least not until he reads this), but it's my favorite run of the week.
Since my own long runs need to be longer than Mitch's, I do mine on Saturday and then run with him on Sunday. The back to back long runs are an important part of my training for the 50K so it works out perfect.
Staying in holiday weekend mode, we had Pickle Barrel subs for lunch (if you aren't from Montana, you should make a trip here just to have one). Dinner was barbecue rib eye steaks and corn on the cob. We might have had brownie sundaes for dessert. I lost count, but I had a few beers too.
Sunday ~ My big ambition to ride 28 miles on my bike!
Ha! 28 miles definitely didn't happen! Never mind that I have only ridden my bicycle maybe 5 times all year. I'm not comfortable on two wheels yet. I prefer my own two feet. But, I need the cross training and I agreed to do a 60 mile cycling event in Yellowstone with Mitch in October.... Part of the deal when he agreed to run the Yellowstone Half.
Mitch managed to get this shot while riding past me on his bike. Now that's blog photographer talent.
While the picture makes it look like it was a perfectly beautiful day, it was actually very windy and a head-wind while climbing steep hills at that. I couldn't believe it when my watch clocked my 5th mile at 53 minutes. I could have run faster than that!
The weather got progressively worse. The wind was relentless and it started to rain, so rather than doing the 28 mile loop, we turned around at mile 6. I really didn't want to because the truth is I am afraid of the downhills. I will ride my brakes all the way down, all the while scared that the brakes will give out and I will fly down the hill out of control. I expect I will get over that if I get out on the bike enough. The great thing was that I no longer had a head wind. Just the rain, sore hands and a sore butt.
I will conquer that 28 mile loop this spring.
We had leftover Beddar Cheddars and tater tots for lunch and followed it up with Mexican food at the Guadalajara for dinner. I feel like all I did this weekend was exercise and then eat/drink all the calories I burned and then some. I'm sure I did, too!
How was your Memorial Day weekend??
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