A Run And Someone Else's Race

Oh.... I almost forgot how much fun running can be. After last week's trouble at the Ache and a boring treadmill run on Wednesday, I finally had a good run again! It was dry, cool and not too windy. It was the first time this fall, that I wore a long sleeved shirt, a headband and some gloves too.

I mentioned yesterday, that I needed to catch up on some sleep and that's what I did. Slept in and then very slowly started my day with some lounging around and then out for a run. In order to get the puppy out as well, I decided to do a short two mile loop around the block first and then drop her off before heading out for the rest of my run. She actually did pretty good today running on the leash. NICE! Oh... And after those first two miles, I also got rid of the gloves! ;-)

Around here, Terry has specific routes, he always uses e.g. his 2 mile loop, his 4 mile loop, his 6 mile hill loop etc. I pretty much took my workouts from his loops, but today I felt like I wanted to mix it up a little and I also didn't know how far I wanted/could go. So I started out and turned here and there, picked up a stray dog for a while to keep me company, kept on adding mileage to my run and felt great doing it. I ended up with a 7 mile run in 1h 10 mins (incl the 2 miles with the puppy) and was once again reminded that I really like to run.

After getting back in from the run, I grabbed a shower and a snack and then we headed out to watch the Paris Mountain Downhill MTB Race. We took the shuttle to the first parking lot and then hiked up to an area that was maybe the last .2 miles of the course. Cheered for the riders that where just about to finish up their first run. Then hiked down to the finish and back to the parking lot from where we took the shuttle to the top. Up there we saw the first couple of riders starting their second run. It was quite chilly out there, so we called it a day after that. Returned to the house for some extreme couching! That's the only sport I haven't been doing lately at all! ;-)

Here are some pics from the race:


That was at our first viewing spot. Before this, the riders where coming down a hill, had to cross a wet wood bridge and then up on the other side while trying not to hit the tree in the middle of the trail.


That was close to the top. You can see the starting line tent in the background. This guy was riding down the hill with two MTB frames welded on top of each other. I don't think that needs to be further commented! ;-)


Action shot!


Oh yes, that us... This time the self portrait worked at the first try! ;-)