**I actually created this post last week and never posted it. It was a busy week.
Marathon Training Week 5 Day 2 or 3
I’m baaaack!!! The Two Seconds family was on vacation for a lovely 13 days. I didn’t get in all of my runs, but I was able to stick to my long run days. I know how important it is to do those, so I made a special point to do them. It was definitely nice to have a change of scenery on my runs. The first part of our vacation we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with an initial stop in Mackinaw City. I had a 3 mile run scheduled for that morning and luckily the Gaylord to Mackinaw trail was right outside the hotel where we stayed. I would definitely like to go back and bike that trail. It was gorgeous. Plus I saw two deer on my run.
We then headed to the UP (as we call the Upper Peninsula here in Michigan). Let me start off by saying that the UP is Mr. Jeep and my absolute favorite place to go. It is a totally different way of living up there. There are no expressways, just two lane roads with an occasional passing lane. The speed limit on these roads is also only 55 mph, which makes for a very restless lady. Mr. Jeep and I try to stick to the speed limit, too, after getting a speeding ticket one time when we were up there. Everything is laid back up there. It’s great!
We were very excited to take LC up there because we always tell her stories about our travels there. She had been counting down the days until we left. Of course, we’ll have to go back in a few years, if not before, so that E can experience the beauty of the Porcupine Mountains (that’s where we went in the UP). I have to also add that even though I didn’t complete all of my training days, we did do a lot of hiking. And I mean a lot of hiking. The hiking also involved carrying E in the Baby Bjorn because there was no way a stroller could go where we went. (E earned the nickname Carlos, a la The Hangover, during the trip…I don’t think he appreciated it) LC loved seeing all of the waterfalls. She was super excited the day we let her actually walk out to the edge of the waterfall and touch the water. Don’t worry, it was totally safe (or at least that’s what I told myself).
The most exciting part of the entire trip was the deer that visited our campsite every morning and every evening. We adopted her while we were there and named her Caroline. She was a very brave and bold deer. I have a picture of Caroline on one side of a tree and LC on the other side of the tree. LC could have reached out and touched the deer she was that close to it. I’m assuming that several people have fed the deer and that’s why it wasn’t scared of us. We also saw a black bear, which was very exciting. Exciting because we were in the car at the time and it wasn’t at our campsite.
It was a great vacation and maybe I’ll post some pictures when I get a chance.
So, on to the training log.
I ran 9 miles on Monday. It was scheduled for Sunday, but since we were traveling home on Sunday there was no running for me. I decided I didn’t want to run my same boring route around my house and decided to go to a nearby park that has a pretty good trail system. I didn’t actually map out how many miles long it was before I went and decided to rely on Big G to get me through it. I figured the trail was at least 4.5 miles in one direction and therefore would get me my 9 that I needed. Let’s just say that I underestimated a little bit. When I hit the end of the trail I was only at 3.5 miles, so I had to scramble to figure out where I was going to make up the remaining 2. I ended up doing one of the loops twice and took the trail in the opposite direction to make up the rest. Big G told me 9.00 as I got back to the car. It was great to have a change of scenery and I ran next to a river most of the way. I even saw a deer. It was a great way to start the 4th of July.
Tuesday was a rest day and I ran 5 miles yesterday. For some reason I developed a huge blister on my big toe after my run yesterday. I’m not quite sure why, but I popped that thing as soon as I had the chance. It was not in a good spot. I almost had a deer/pedestrian collision, too. Some of you may think, big deal she saw a deer. It’s not normal to see a deer around my house. The deer must have been grazing in someone’s front yard and I startled it. It ran out in front of me on the sidewalk and then circled back. It scared the crap out of me! And then another one popped out of these people’s flower bed and ran with it.
This morning I ran 3.2 miles and I felt really good.
Keep on keeping on…
Heather
