I have used KT Tape before and it can be a little tricky applying it properly. I’ve never applied it on the Achilles and my first application on my left foot was a little wonky, but effective. The application on the right foot was much more eloquent. The desired result was great. I really felt support while running using the tape. There seemed to be a certain tightness and that alleviated much of the pain. Granted, I only ran for two miles with it, but it held up nicely. I went out and bought more today and will continue to use it during my recovery process.
I started out with a run/walk at the beginning of the week. You know the feeling when you haven’t been outside in a while and you finally get to go out and everything is exhilarating? I had that feeling. It was so good to be running again. A few pangs, but when I started to hurt I slowed down and ensured I walked a bit. I’m one of those people who just like to push through. I hate interrupting the flow. My second run was two miles on the treadmill. As monotonous as the treadmill is at times, it reduces impact and is part of my recovery and training program.
There is a high school down the road with a very nice track. I figured this weekend I would give it a go. When I was in Belleville, Il I would use the track on Scott AFB all the time. I like running on the road, but sometimes it’s just nice to be off the road and have a flatter surface. And it’s a track, which means lower impact and it’s good for speed training too. I walked a mile to the track (great warm up) and ran two miles and walked back for a total of 4.30 miles for the long run this week. No doubt I will be ready for the Quantico 12K in August.
Hawks track in the background.
I logged 9.23 miles this week. I know..:/, but at least it’s 9.23 more than last week. I remain eternally grateful for my steadfast journey. I have 5774.75 miles remaining! I hope this post finds you back….back in the saddle again. Happy Miles to You!!
Happy Sunday Everyone! Just a quick check in. Yes, you read that correctly! I logged a big 0.0. I’m so proud of myself, because it means I was disciplined enough to rest my ankles. Which is way hard for me. I did do plenty of yoga, eccentric heel drops and iced all those sore spots. I’m ready to start next week and get back in the swing of things.
I picked up some K tape at Rite Aid and hope it gives me a little more support.
Ahhh they make it look so easy. At least there is a picture of how to apply, I will give it a shot. I hope this finds you in good July spirits! Happy Miles to You!!
Hello everyone and Happy Sunday! I still continue to move towards my halfway point! It’s getting exciting and close! Can you feel it? My goodness I’ve been doing this a long time now, but I’m chipping away at that mileage and getting closer to the end goal. It never seems to get old. I mean sometimes it gets a little monotonous, but when I’m done or complete my mileage I still get that sparkle!
animeme.wikia.com
This week was pretty good week. I tried to do something every day and have continued to work on my strength training with a combination of low mileage runs and did some indoor cycling. I was going to do a longer run on Saturday, but opted for some faster paced runs to see how I felt. I did mile sprints with the fastest being 9:45 and the slowest 10:14. My Achilles on both ankles still continues to bite at me a bit. Strange that both are hurting and I did pull back from riding today to give them a bit of a rest.
Good news I am a go for the Quantico 12K on 25 August. It is in the Marine Corps Marathon family of races. I’m excited to have signed up for my first race in Virginia. I will be posting more about that in the future and race details can be found here Quantico 12K.
A couple of interesting things this week. First, my mile pace runs on Saturday. It really heated up this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were in the 90s and the humidity was off the chart. Any time it’s that hot it’s always important to hydrate and safely push yourself. I learned something important about myself on Saturday, or at least found an inner fire that I seemed to have lost over the years. I am competitive, but I like to call it a niiiccceee competitive. When I was younger I was very competitive, but maybe I have mellowed over the years. For my pace runs the first mile was more down hill than up. I was at a good steady pace, listening to Led Zepplin’s Stairway to Heaven, when another runner (female) passed me. She passed me, but then cut right in front of me and then proceeded to slow down. Now, do I care that she passed me? Uh, no…people pass me all the time, but normally they get on with it! She slowed down so much that I had to slow my pace down. She was close enough that I could touch her. The first thing that went through my head was to slow down and let her get far enough ahead that I didn’t have to pass her again. Thus playing the….pass game. Something all runners know well. I have been running long enough now that I do try to keep a steady pace. It doesn’t always work, but for the most part I try. I didn’t want to be “that guy”. But then I thought, what the heck? I said no way, you’re going to pass then pass. I kept my pace and me and Robert Plant climbed that Stairway To Heaven together. I blew by her and didn’t give her a second glance. No!
Second, just to let you know how hot it was today. I happened to be driving to Safeway and I saw a guy walking his dog on the sidewalk during the middle of the hottest part of the day. All of a sudden the dog lurched forward and collapsed. At first I thought it got bit by something, but the owner kept on walking with one of those retractable leashes unaware. Finally the leash pulled taut and he went back to attend to the dog. I watched them for about 30 seconds and I drove up to the light and turned around and stopped on the busy street. The dog had collapsed due to heat exhaustion. We loaded up the dog in my car and I drove him and his dog home. He kept saying in disbelief he couldn’t believe it this happened. The dog was old and it was way too hot. If you’re too hot, your pet is too hot. I’m glad that I was in the right place at the right time. The dog was about 50 lbs and that would have made a long walk home. Be careful out there!!
I was able to complete 101 miles for the month of June, about 17 miles shy of last month. Total miles completed comes to 5521.99 with 5793.01 gratefully remaining. I hope this post finds you cool and well. Happy Miles to You!!
Keep climbing that stairway….and it’s meant to be played loud. Oh yes….
Happy Sunday everyone! It’s been a couple of weeks, but I’ve been busy logging those miles and had a little R&R as well.
I’m riding a high after just coming back from a few days down in South Carolina’s Fripp Island. My family has been meeting there every summer for a while now and every year it’s fun and new memories are made. It’s wonderful to see everyone and catch up.
Fripp Island is south of Beaufort, SC and is a beach island without all the overcrowding of tourists. There is something for everyone in regards to housing/hotel renting. Large homes, condos and hotel rooms are available for rent. There is a marina, pools, plenty of activities and of course the beach. I like it because it is truly a low key beach experience. You can go and just unwind and not have tons of people around. If you’re interested visit this link: Fripp Island A few photos I took on the island:
View from the back of our house.
Turtle nesting
This was a whole tree that had washed up on shore!
Some wonderful sites, but family makes it great. This trip was especially great because my Father beat thyroid cancer. We are all so happy and he looks great.
Family
My siblings.
I was able to get some running/walking miles. It was hot and humid, but the island offers wonderful scenic paths or beaches to run. I had two run days of three miles each with cool down and plenty of walking.
That was the good news. The not so good news is the Army Ten Miler in September is closed! I now must go into a waiting status to try a pick up a slot. That’s what I get for waiting. I was looking forward to participating and didn’t think the race would fill up so quickly.
The last two weeks saw 41.86 miles completed, a combination of running, hiking and cycling. My goal is to beat last month’s 118 miles. The weather here as been good, but a little rainy. Today was longest ride since I’ve been in the DC area. A total of 19.76. It was kind of funny because I have been riding the Mt. Vernon trail and I keep pushing it a little further to see where it goes. I made it all the way down to the bridge (I forget the name!) that crosses the Potomac into Maryland. I passed the turnoff to the bridge and slowed down to turn around. I didn’t have room to turn around on the bike so I had to stop and inch the bike around. I thought it would be easier to just unclip one foot and turn around….uh no. I knew exactly what would happen and there I was in slow motion…falling on the sidewalk! If you can believe it….no one saw me fall, but I felt it, all the way home. I did get across the bridge:
A little glare. 19.76
The mileage count so far is 5508.86 with 5806.14 gratefully remaining. I have 148.64 until the halfway point. I hope this post finds you and your family well. Life is short don’t put off reaching out to that special family member. Happy Miles to You!!!
Every time I hear this song I smile. When I was a kid I had some friends that I would see every summer at my Grandmother’s house on Long Island and we would put on shows for the neighborhood. We bought some Donnie and Marie microphones and covered them with foil (we were embarrassed). We dressed in red, white and blue and sang this song to our neighbors and friends…for 25¢ of course:) Even they were family.
It’s been fairly uneventful this past week. Always a bit of a drag coming off a holiday and a four-day work week to a full work week! Not complaining too much – lol, but you get my drift. It’s been so rainy here in the DC area. It seems every time I want to get out it’s raining or the threat of raining. It’s been slowing my outdoor game just a bit. This week was good for miles. I’ve been hitting the indoor bike on the rainy days and got in a small run. I’m up to 11.5 miles on the indoor bike on the longer ride days. I’ve been trying to do a little something every day in the mileage category. On strength training days I try to get at least two miles in on the bike. I can really see a difference and uptick in my running and cycling performance. In the past I didn’t pay a lot of attention to strength training, just didn’t make the time. I’m definitely making time for strength training now, even if it means fewer miles for the week. The outcome is better.
This weeks miles came to 29.70. I am 190 miles away from the halfway mark, with 5848 miles gratefully remaining. How do you think I should celebrate my halfway mark? I hope this finds you enjoying your June Sunday, rain or shine…steady as she goes! Happy Miles to You!!
I googled steady as she goes…and this one came up! It’s kind of catchy….
Even though I feel the greeting card companies have created this day to sell stuff, and it worked, I still like to reflect on this day. If you read the blog regularly, 11315 miles was created and dedicated for the purpose of honoring my mother Karen Ellen Dennis Mastromonico by celebrating one mile for every year of life. I have been walking, hiking, running and cycling for a while now in honor of her memory. It has been an adventure participating in different events, celebrating the joy of life in the memory of someone who died so young.
Like most women (moms) I decided to treat myself to a little Barnes and Noble from time to time. I surely don’t need Mother’s Day to buy books and it only becomes better when I have my monthly free café drink. There I was walking the tables stacked high with books, with many of the tables touting various slogans ~ Mom will love this for Mother’s Day,Books only a Mom could love, or Books of Inspiration. I rounded this one table and there were all sorts of girl power books. For some reason I was feeling the girl power and came across books with quotes from famous women and then there in the middle of the table was the book, Mother Teresa, Her Essential Wisdom. I am fascinated by nuns and who better to read about than Mother Teresa. I was particularly interested because I had read a story a while back that for the last 50 years of Mother Teresa’s life, she struggled with a dark presence in her faith. It really is an amazing story. She mentioned that she had a calling within a calling, to serve the poor and the unloved. It is hard to imagine that she dealt with a dark side of faith with such a strong calling to serve the poor. I find it fascinating that some women have this calling and give up so much to serve others.
Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. She was born in what is known as modern day Macedonia but spent most of her life as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. A funny story about the Missionaries of Charity. While Pope Saint John Paul II was alive I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the Pope’s Easter mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope John Paul II was in failing health and was relegated to a wheelchair. When we showed our tickets to the usher, who looked like CIA, we were led down the main aisle towards our seats. I was a little embarrassed as we kept moving forward. I thought surely at any moment we would tuck into a pew. Nope, kept going forward passing people who were now staring. The closer we got to the altar I was really embarrassed. Why are we so close? The next thing I know the nice gentleman sat us down in the seats that surrounded the altar. In other words it was like stage seating at a concert. I couldn’t believe it. Finally, the church began to fill and there were priests and nuns all around us. The priests looked the same but the nuns all had on different garments of their order. Well lo and behold a group of nuns sat behind us that were talking and laughing like teen-aged girls. I turned around and it looked like there were 12 Mother Teresa’s behind me. It was quite a sight. They were pumped and when they wheeled Pope in, the house came down. It was their rock concert.
The mass began and if you ever have been to a Catholic Mass you know we get our exercise. Up, down and kneel. We weren’t in a pew but folding chairs and I was constantly getting bumped or pushed by the people behind me. It was starting to get a little annoying until I realized that one of the nuns behind me was so short she couldn’t see. She was jumping and tucking her head in between to see past me. She couldn’t have been more than 4 feet and some change. When I turned to look at who was making all that commotion she just gave me this electric smile filled with so much joy and a mouth full of some other language of which some words that spilled out in broken English ~ I’m sorry. I realized that this was her event. I spoke and gestured to her and her friend “let’s change seats” and I thought they were going to explode as they muscled me and my daughter out of the way. They wasted no time switching and there I was in the middle of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. It was quite the experience. Women are tough…even if they’re small.
I was able to get in a sampler of miles this week. I ran, cycled and walked. The weather was rainy and cycling had to be indoors. On Saturday I went for a nice hike on the Mt. Vernon trial. It was hot an muggy but all the trees are flowering and the wild flowers are gorgeous. I finished 29.08 for the week leaving me with 5,952.18 gratefully remaining. If you are celebrating Mother’s Day and your mother is living, never miss a moment to let her know how much you love her. Even if it is just a simple text. Life has a way of changing quickly. I leave you with this:
The woman is the heart of the home. Let us pray that we women realize the reason of our existence: to love and be loved and through this love become instruments of peace in the world.
~ Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Happy Miles to You!! This song seemed appropriate for those who have lost their Moms, written by John Lennon, Julia, who passed away in 1958..
Happy Earth Day everyone! I didn’t even know it was earth day until I saw it on Google. They have a great video on Dr. Jane Goodall. I can’t think of a better representative for Earth Day then Jane Goodall. I love all the work she’s done with primates and her overall sentiment that the earth is something to love, cherish and pass on to our youth. If you would like to know more about Jane go to this link: http://www.janegoodall.org/
There are a lot of “days” out there to be celebrated and I imagine for most people some of this stuff is just a waste of time and money. Maybe so in some cases, but I think earth day is a great day to reflect on how we live in our environment now and what can we do to improve and consume less. At least I do. This weekend’s weather was true spring weather in Alexandria. Blue skies, a little nip in the morning with it heating up later.
As I ran my longer run this weekend I took in the beauty of the trees, river, blue bonnets, and even the dandelions. Birds are singing and squirrels are running about the woods. People moving freely and enjoying the warmer weather, just being. I know what you’re thinking…oh brother, so it was a nice day, so what? Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been in places, countries if you will where it wasn’t such a nice day. Actually, it was quite the opposite. Despair, anger, death and hopelessness. I think often about my time in Somalia and it’s sad to know that there are places and people in this world who can’t go out and let the beauty of the world wash over them, even if it’s just for an hour. These are the things I sometimes think about trying to log these miles. Thoughts that I will always carry with me until the end I guess. If I were Queen for a day I would change these things if I could. So, out of all the days Earth Day is a bit of an enigma. It’s fun to talk about, but harder to walk the walk. As I age I always think, hmmm, do I really need that or turn off the lights, recycle, conserve water. I ask myself how much is enough. It’s hard because no one wants to be uncomfortable, including me. I do try though in mind, spirit and action.
This week I picked up more mileage than the prior week. The plan was to cycle today but “bad kitty” (aka my bike) wasn’t having any part. Cleaned her off and started to air up the tires only to find a valve issue…again. I guess the trek across country was a little more damaging than I previously thought. This weeks business will be to find a cycle shop and take her in for some my need professional maintenance. I ran instead. Started the week off with a longer run, indoor cycling on Thursday and a longer run today of 3.5 miles. Slowly bringing the distance back up. I felt good today ~ pain is low and I ended up running 10:39. Not too shabby but the annoyance level was a little high because of the bike.
Total mileage came out to 17.63 this week. I’ve already passed March numbers and I’m not even in the hotter weather and have a week to go! I have 6030.71 miles graciously awaiting me. I hope this post finds you well enough to go outside, close your eyes and let the beauty of this earth wash over you. Happy Earth Day. Happy Miles to You!!
It’s hard to believe I’ve only been in D.C. a little over a month. It seems a lot longer and when I look back at all the progress I’ve made from moving into a new place, starting a new job and just getting back into the swing of things it’s a little surreal.
I’m ready for Spring! How about you? There is a lot of push and pull in the weather. This past week has shown some nice temps with Saturday reaching 87 degrees according to my thermometer and now it’s in the 50s and raining!
This week was an improvement in miles ~ and that’s what it is all about! I was able to take a few walks at lunch time when the weather is good. Sometimes it’s hard for me to pull away from what I’m doing and leave during lunch. I’m sure a lot of you do the same thing. But it’s important to get away from that computer and if nothing else take that walk to clear the mind and stretch the legs. Now if I can just eat my lunch away from my desk I’ll be doing well!
This weeks mileage was a good combination of treadmill, walking and running. The nicer weather had me out after work with a few runs in my local area. I have been slowly pushing the length of each run trying to get to a nice solid running mileage during the week and then pushing for the longer runs on Saturday. I started with 2.5 and then a 2.75 during the week and ended with a 3 mile run on Saturday. For the most part feeling pretty good.
I was so pleased with Saturday’s run. First time in a while I took the water bottle and gels with me. The best part about the run, well the two best things, the trees and the weather. It was so wonderful to hear the leaves rustling the wind, the birds singing and the sun shining on the water. It put me in a great mood. Even better my pace for this run was 10:04. Haven’t seen that for a long time! Overall felt good and a positive end to the week. Something to smile about!
You can see the trail and winds 8 miles both ways. I can’t believe I got a shot and no one was in it. There are a lot of people on the trail. Looking to practice on this running and cycling. I completed 12.53 for the week, up four. I am very close to breaking 6K! It’s going to happen people. I have 6048.34 miles gratefully waiting. I hope this post finds you “spring” ready! Happy Miles to You!!
The first word is always the hardest to write. Hmmm, ok let’s go for the utterly mundane and say I have completed my third half marathon. I would have tried to bang this post out yesterday, but I was tired and hungry. Oh so very hungry. Where to begin…”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” Oh very sorry, wrong story.
On Sunday I completed the Winter Trail Frosty Trail Half Marathon that took place in Papago Park in Tempe, Arizona. I get a lot of junk email for different types of races. I searched for races that take place in January in Arizona and the WTF came up. I thought it would be cool to do one closer to home. This race is hosted by 131 Event Productions, who sponsor similar races across the country. I guess it would be safe to say they are a franchise. I signed up originally because I wanted to do another trail race. I have done a few trails before with the last one, the Grand Canyon Half, in 2016. So, I was ready to try another trail run.
About a couple of weeks before the race an update was sent out that mentioned something about insurance and injury and that the run wouldn’t take place through the park but around the lake area closer to the city. I was surprised and a little put out but it was a chance to get some miles in and to focus on PRing my fastest half time.
I had been good with hydrating and eating the whole week. Focusing on good energy foods. The morning of I did have this:
No, it’s not just ordinary toast…it’s cinnamon sugar toast. I had it growing up as a kid and had been craving it so I made it for part of my breakfast. The other part was a Kashi cereal that tastes like Captain Crunch™. Don’t judge. Packed about two gels for every two miles and headed out the door around 7:15.
Arrive at the venue and begin to drive to the parking lot only to see cars driving back. A sure sign that there are no more parking spaces. I was beginning to realize that maybeI should have left a little earlier. I found myself parking in a park down the road with others about a mile from the start. Park the car and realize that I need to step up my game. In other words, girlfren you need to start wogging to the start line. I needed to get there because I wanted to get one last bathroom break in before the race starts. Get to the start line and look for portos. What!!??!! Looking….looking…oh there…they…are…. WTFrack! There were only six portos and the line was out the…well you know. I mean come on!!! Six? Heck, women alone need six! Now we have to share them? So, there I stood and I’ll tell you I wasn’t happy. If I someone shooting the shyster I know my ice eyes were beaming through the back of their heads. STOP TALKING….”five minutes till race start” the announcer bellows. No way was I going to get this done. I made the call to get out of the line and go back to the start. Once the race began I ran to the porto and waited for six minutes, then I started my race. Yeah. Awesome.
The race
The race was a combination of a quarter and half marathon. The half marathoners (me) got to do the course…you guessed it, twice. As my readers well know, there is nothing I hate more than a lapped run. It’s boring. Did I say it’s boring? But sometimes you just have to deal. I start running down a small path and the next thing I know it’s starts to go through the park! A real trail run. Uh, hmmm what about the insurance blah, blah, death, blah blah…??? Yes, ladies and gentleman, we have ourselves a real trail run. I was happy, but a bit shocked. I sure as heck wouldn’t have worn my Hokas ya’ll! But there I was hopping over rock and sand. The majority of the trail was single person wide with a few concrete cross overs and some flat areas. You know what that means right? Here’s a hint:
Can you guess? It was a caterpillar run. Meaning, you’re only going as fast as the person in front of you. A lot of stop and starting. Awesome! One thing I will say, the difficulty was higher than the Grand Canyon Half. You had to be careful where you stepped and it was constantly up and down. I was very careful on descending because I didn’t want to hurt my knee again. That’s what got me in trouble last time. It was a tough course.
Here is a picture I took on one of the few places that was flatter. Mind you I was already halfway up the hill.
Support
This is where things get a little iffy and I really want to say something about this because I have noticed this happening in MANY events I’ve taken part over the years. For the first part there was heavy support. The trail was marked okay, not great. They marked it with bright green tape (the route to follow) and orange tape (where not to go). There were volunteer guides to set you on the right path at some of the more tricky parts. After the first round, i.e. the quarter marathoners completed their race, the volunteers magically disappeared. Now you would think, well you ran it once surely you would know where to go. Not so. Runners were getting tired and paying attention to foot strike. I saw a lot of people get turned around at some of the more confusing points, myself included. Then the ultimate no no, they took away some of the water points. Look, I didn’t bring my water belt. I train with one, but I look forward to running a race without one, especially if there is water support. Right or wrong, we can discuss that in the comments section. A lot of people had their belts or hydration packs. Maybe I should have brought mine. The water points were about every two miles for the first part of the race, but seemed to disappear the second half. This is what I find at a lot of these events. You have the fast people who will finish the race in one hour, but then the other 90% don’t. The other 90% paid for this experience too and therefore, the event managers need to follow through and support until the last man or woman crosses the finish line. Some of these races are expensive. This one wasn’t too bad, but still the support needs to be the same for all. Unless there are some stipulations in the event rules that state support cuts off after a certain time, support the runners. I was really counting on one of the water points only to find it packed up and gone. Not cool. I will be writing 131 productions.
The finish
The finish was great and well supported. They had lots of food and water to refuel and the bling wasn’t too bad either. The medal was crazy big and a little heavy! I wonder sometimes if you can get addicted to the bling. My body was a little sore, but overall this was a pain free race!
I was pleased with my performance. I was going to say I didn’t PR but I guess I did because this was my second trail half. I ran 3 hours and some change for the Grand Canyon and I finished this run at 2:59. Granted the elevation differences are not the same with two very different environments. I came in 9th in my age group for this run. Don’t get excited, there were eleven in my age group.
After the run I was really hungry even after eating cake and a banana at the finish, so I treated myself to Culvers. I hadn’t been there in a while and needed something good!
And here I thought they did the pickle like that especially for me….no, it’s everyone.
I completed 27.45 miles this week bringing me to 5110.36 miles completed in my journey with 6204.64 gratefully remaining. I hope this post finds you surrounded by the people you love. Happy Miles to You!!
Once again I felt like I was on the moon. I got in the car to go home and this was on the radio….
I had a good training week. Meaning, I did everything I set out to do. Whether that means I did it well, you can judge for yourself:-) Definitely more miles this week but I still didn’t get out on the bike. Definitely, will be changing that next week for sure.
I have added three to four days a week of weight training to my program and happy to say I have stuck to it. I have always lifted weights in the past, but sometimes when you’re training for a long race it’s easy to put that on the back burner. Getting in the car, driving to the gym, etc, etc. So this year, I’m determined stick with it and this week was a banner week.
Started off with two smaller runs of around 3 and 4 miles each. The weather is still cool here (in the morning) and I was able to keep a good steady pace around 10:37. I was happy with that pace because it’s usually up around a 11 or 12 minute pace. One of my running goals is to keep the pace constant around 10:30 this year. Working hard!
My long run was not so great. What’s good about writing about all this is, if you’re a runner or cyclist, you can feel good in knowing that some days aren’t the best. Everybody has those days. This weeks long run was around 6 miles and I waited a little later in the day to run. First, I was tired. Didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before and I’m an early riser. Around 5 am. I have four cats, so you get my drift there. I could really feel the drag after mile two. Legs were just heavy. After around mile two it was the run some walk some day. Second, it was hot. Oh yes….it’s back. I started off without any water. You know it’s funny. During this time of year when it’s colder in the morning and hot in the afternoon I always play this game with myself. Hmmm, can I do it? Can I do it without water? And always the answer is…….NO! Every dang time. But that doesn’t stop me from going and trying. It’s only six miles. My mind says ~ “you got this girl” and my dehydrated mouth says “no, no you don’t”. On one of my routes I make a pass by my house at mile two and I swung in to get my water belt. It was thrown in the back of the pantry looking at me like…yeah that’s what you get. So I strapped her on and finished the run. Good grief.
Normally Sunday is my rest day, but I wanted to keep going. One thing I do like hiking. I went out to one of our trails today and decided to do the mountain rim and one of the trails to the base of another mountain.
Mountain ridge.
I started off by climbing a couple of the mountain ridge lines. I know this picture doesn’t really look high but I was pretty high up! It’s nice to be out there because even though there are plenty of people hiking, cycling and running you still have plenty of path to yourself. Plenty of time to think and just be. I originally thought to bring music but decided against it. I don’t know about you, but sometimes to disconnect is the best option. I like hearing all the sounds, especially any animals that might want to sneak up behind me! For the most part the path is good footing. When you are climbing and descending it can be a bit daring!
Even when a cactus is dying it is pretty.
Sat down to do some journal writing.
And my favorites…
It’s like I’m on the moon.
I hiked a total of 4.63 miles this time around. I logged a total of 19.22 miles this week with 6253.12 gratefully waiting and 3111.53 for the year. (I hear you laughing….don’t count me out).
I do find some beauty in the desert. Sometimes when I’m walking or running it’s invigorating other times when I look out its easy for a wave of sadness to rush over me. I sometimes see just rock, but I know there is beauty in all things, sometimes you just need to look a little harder to find it. When I got back in the car to go home this song was playing. I laughed because I thought it was appropriate. Happy Miles to You!!
Ahhh they make it look so easy. At least there is a picture of how to apply, I will give it a shot. I hope this finds you in good July spirits! Happy Miles to You!!
11315 Miles 