A Weekend of Firsts!

What a fantastic weekend in the Ozarks!  I experienced so many new things that I haven’t ever tried.

 

A friend of mine and I decided to try out stand up paddle boarding.  We had no idea what to expect when we headed down to Branson on Saturday morning.  The people at White River Kayaking were so helpful and gave us many tips on where to paddle to in order to get our bearings, what creeks would be nice to go up and how to not get run over by a boat.  We spent two hours on Lake Taneycomo, paddling around near the Branson Landing and checking it out.  If you know the lake, you know it is COLD.  The owner of WRK warned us we did not want to end up in the water.  Unfortunately for my friend, she did!  FORTUNATELY for her, she was wearing the GoPro and all of it was captured here.  There’s definitely a little bit of language in the video but it’s pretty funny.

 

Sunday morning was all about new things!  My first group run, my first training run for Dogwood, my first time at Busiek, my first time on a real trail and my first time in my Mizuno Wave Kazans.  It also had rained the night before so the trails were muddy.  And of course it rained as soon as we got there.  By the end, my clothes were SOAKED but I had a blast!  I definitely enjoyed the dynamic of running in a group and the tips I got from seasoned trail vets were so valuable.  I feel like I’m getting more comfortable off the road and was able to dominate the less technical portions.

 

Walking up the steep inclines is definitely for the best, walking down them is definitely something I will need to continue doing for now as well.

Bug spray is an absolute must.  The parts of my body that I missed with borrowed bug spray are paying for it.  My quads ache today.  That feeling of accomplishment though…that’s something.  I can’t wait to get out there again.  My new shoes were PHENOMENAL.  Mizuno does it again!

 

 

Look at all that mud!  I only almost lost my shoe +/- 3 times.

 

Did you try something new this weekend?  How did it go?

Summertime HEAT!

Is anyone else out there struggling with the heat and humidity?  My goodness.  I feel like normally by this time in the summer, I’m completely adapted and doing just fine.  This year?  I’m struggling.  Really struggling.  It’s not so much lack of motivation to run but a lack of motivation to be a hot, sweaty mess.  The humidity is stifling.  Coupled with my job that has me outside quite a bit and it’s really unappealing.  So I’ve been hitting the treadmill with my own personal fan.  Literally.  A little fan clipped to the treadmill.

 

Which then got me thinking, why can’t I attach a fan to my neck?  How weird would I look?  Would people be jealous?  Could I start a new trend?  Maybe a new running club?

 

Reality is, my 25K trail race in October is starting to loom big in my head.  I need to get my booty outside and running  the trails.  Which means I need to make a decision on trail shoes.  And find a trail running buddy.  Sigh.  Time to get it together!