Okay, I admit it, I haven't been so good about keeping the blog up to date. But honestly, there hasn't been much for "news", and I don't want to blather on and on about nothing. Actually, I've written quite a few blog posts in my mind while I've been jogging, but since there isn't yet a technology that will translate my thoughts directly into the computer...nothing has been posted. It's been about a month since I last updated, so here's what's been going on.
I went back to northeast Ohio for 2 weeks at the end of August. It was a nice vacation for many reasons, but I also really enjoyed exercising outside while there. I went jogging in the afternoon several days - and it was pleasant, in fact, absolutely enjoyable. A nice mid 70s with a breeze. Even if the temps got into the 80s, it wasn't a humid and miserable 80s. I loved it! I actually did my best distances while running outside up there - I did 3.6 miles in 35 minutes of running one time. Without stopping! That is a huge accomplishment. It did help that the greenway I was running on was relatively flat. In fact, I've always thought of that area to be quite hilly, but the greenways are pretty flat as a pancake.
I took my bike along with me, and that experience was mixed. I did a Sunday morning ride along some country roads, and it was just not enjoyable. There is very little shoulder along the roadways up there, making it difficult to share the road. But even worse was the condition of the roads. The roadways suffer from the temperatures and freeze/thaw cycles in the winter, and the 3 ft space along the shoulder - where I primarily ride - was in ridiculously terrible shape. It was not enjoyable at all. I never did motivate myself to go for another ride on the roads because it was so horrible. I did, however, have a LOVELY ride with a friend along a greenway one evening. We rode and talked for about 15 miles - still relatively flat, but nice for a more casual ride. I am happy to see that there are a number of trails up there for running and biking. The triangle area is lagging a little behind in that department, but I know that there are projects being worked on. There is a greenway trail along the Neuse river that is slated to open this fall, and there are a number of small greenways in Wake Forest (~ 1 mile) that are proposed to be connected together and to connect to the greater Raleigh system.
I think the biggest lesson I've learned in the last month is that I prefer to run outside. I tried to run on the treadmill last week, and it sucked. I barely went 2.5 miles before my body was screaming to stop (and I almost fell off the thing trying to push myself further). I just didn't have the heart to do it. But yesterday morning I took advantage of our cooler mornings and did a 3.5 mile run through my neighborhood and it was awesome. Both kids will be in school by mid week, and I'm looking forward to having some time in the morning to run and bike outside.
With all the travel, I haven't been in the pool for about 3 weeks, but before I left I was doing quite well. It's taken a lot of conscious effort, but I've finally re-trained my stroke to the 'proper' method. I haven't done a time trial in a while, so one goal soon will be to assess how I'm doing in the swim. Since this is probably my strongest discipline, I'm not too worried about being prepared.
I did set a goal of doing at least three 5K races this fall, and I think that will be easy to accomplish. My daughter's school is sponsoring a Race for the Cure event on October 1, and we are signed up to do that race - my husband and school aged daughter want to participate as well. And two days ago we agreed to participate in another benefit 5K for my husband's hospital on September 24. It won't be hard to find a third - or perhaps more - event to run in. I might even look for a biking event this fall. We are planning on taking a biking 'vacation' in late October. It's a two day biking tour of the North Carolina wineries. Since the wineries are located along the edge of the Blue Ridge mountains, we're sure to get a workout.
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