Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Happy Trails to Me

Posted on 9:00 AM by Brit

I'll just say it: I know I've been running too much lately. Last week, I did sprints and a 5K, and I usually jog a mile as part of my warm up. I plan on mixing it up a little more but I had the opportunity to do a challenging run yesterday that I could not pass up, so please be kind.

My mom is currently visiting from Minnesota, and so my aunt and her were heading up to Lake Geneva, WI, to take a boat tour of the lake. Yesterday, they had spent part of the day in LG too but had walked the shore path, which is 26 miles around the lake. Now, I remember this path. I walked the entire route once before back when I was younger and stupider, and it's a combination of perfectly manicured lawns, beaches, stone paths, concrete walkways, dirt trails through woods, and a whole lot of hills; there are beautiful houses to look at, boats to pine over, people to dodge, rocks and trees to jump over and stairs to run up. It's 26 miles of walking/running heaven or hell, depending on your point of view. But what got me was that the trail aspect of it. I am sick of running on asphalt/tracks/concrete - and being older and stupider, I decided I needed something different and something different was exactly what I got.

I should preface that I actually have no real record of how far I ran. The trail is not necessarily marked very well and I do not own a pedameter, but I do believe I ran at least six miles total (to and from) based on one sign I saw. My point was though was to run for a half an hour and then turn around to meet my aunt and my mom back at the docks. It was far from your typical CrossFit WOD because I do not know necessarily how far I ran or how much time it took me (I forgot to turn off my stopwatch when I finished); however, I wanted to test out the trail before trying to con other people into coming out there with me, and test it out I did. Here is a list of what happened to me while on and after my run:
  1. I ran through some pleasant boggy areas; my shoes and socks are now coated in mud;

  2. I nearly ran over a couple of walkers, a gardener and an elderly gentleman taking pictures;
  3. I tripped over a loose rock on a patio and fell down. Luckily, only my pride was wounded and not my hands or the knee I landed on;

  4. I got lost and ended running at least an extra 200 meters at least both up and then downhill;
  5. A bee stung me. In all my 25 years, I had never been stung by a bee until yesterday. Seriously, that sucker came out of nowhere and it hurt. (Stupid bee.)

  6. When I finished, I walked up to my mom and aunt, who promptly told me that they had found some nice summer dresses I needed to try on. I'm sure that the workers at the store were absolutely thrilled when the sweaty/dirty girl in knee highs walked through the door. Luckily (for both the store owners and for me), we bought everything I tried on (Yay for new clothes).

So there you have it. It was a fairly eventful run and morning, and I'll probably go back once I figure out the exact mileage, have a specific time to go for, and when it gets a little cooler so I don't get attacked by more bees.

1 comment:

  1. Brit that is awesome we ran Glacial Park the other day and that is a much shorter run but still fun. Let me know when you are going to do that again it sounds like a good run. This is Pete by the way

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