Shuffle, Scrap, Sparkle

Monday Madness 8 Mile Run

I came home from school this afternoon exhausted and just wanted to take a nap.  However, I knew that since we didn't get our last long run in yesterday due to the rain, that tonight was the night.  We wanted to run the trails in the state park but they tend to flood with just the slightest amount of rain.  So instead we headed to town and settled on the Towpath.  This path ran throughout the city but we selected the portion that runs through a marshland.  The first part of the trail is interesting with its zigzag tree lined path.  After mile 5, the trail becomes extremely boring.  It becomes straight with no end in sight.  We broke our run up into two parts.  We ran 4 mile, fueled and stretched at the car, and then tackled the last 4 mindless miles.  Running the last 4 miles, we ran past the local indoor golf dome and two high school baseball games being played on adjacent fields.  As the sun started to set and our shadows became longer, we saw our car and the finish in the distance.  Two hours and we had finished 8 miles.  We walked the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes.  Using a 2 min run/1 min walk ratio we completed our last long run before this weekend.  Of course, we always finish off our runs with chocolate milk or Carnation Instant Breakfast.  What a tasty way to refuel after a long run!

Ready to tackle 8 miles

  

Fresh cut hay

Beginning of the trail

  

    

Some very large bird nests

  

Trying out my outfit for the half marathon on Saturday. It's not hard to tell that I love bright green

  

Simultaneous baseball games entertained us as we ran by their ball diamonds

  

Golf Dome

  

Wasn't sure what this was but closer inspection we concluded: ANTS!

Tulip Tree, I think

Almost finished!

  

Our running companions; our shadows

  

Slow 8 miles

 ( this includes 5 min. warm up walk and 5 min. cool down walk as well as stopping midway and of course photos along the way)

   

After run refuel

Tasty!

     

Another beautiful sunset


With the 8 miles behind us, we feel confident that we can complete the half marathon on Saturday without any problems.  One more easy run this week and then Indy here we come!  We aren't going for a time, we just want to finish and enjoy the sights along the way.