The Beauty of Nap

My first few days of Spring have been fantastic. To start, I had a three-day weekend. Not working always makes things better. Second, I had two recent runs that were definitely to rave about.

The first took place in Kensington Metropark. Yes, I finally made it out there! I’d been trying to find some time and motivation to drive out there and finally did yesterday. It was well worth it! So much so that I’ve decided to drive out there again next Sunday for my 17-miler. There is an 8.5 mile paved hike/bike trail similar to the one at my local metropark, Stony Creek, only Kensington’s trail is much more scenic. It hugs the lake shore for most of the 8.5 miles. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be when the trees are filled with leaves and the ground is covered with wildflowers! Also, twice along the trail there were three big plastic containers; one with disposable Gatorade cups, one with two gallon jugs of water and another for trash – all labeled “Runner’s Water Station.” Nice touch! I tried out my new Mizuno Wave Inspires for the first time this day and they worked GREAT!

The second fantastic run took place this morning when Matt and I met up with fellow Loophead blogger, Beer Runner, and some pals of his for a great 10ish mile trail run. No post-run beers this time, but maybe later in the year. We stuck with Powerade today. This run gave me more confidence for my trail race next weekend (first race of the season – WOOOO!) and for my much longer trail race (25K) later in the season.

Following the run yesterday, we helped my mom move some furniture and then she treated us to dinner at the new Irish restaurant down the road. I had New England clam chowder in a bread bowl and shrimp kebob. YUM!! Thanks, Mom!!

After today’s run, I drove over to Lifetime fitness for a workout. It was a bit cool after the run and my fingers had become a little numb. They still hadn’t recovered all feeling by the time I got to the gym, so I decided to enjoy the heat in the car for a few more minutes and allow my fingers to recover. Next thing I know, my eyelids are getting very heavy. I decided to succumb to my fatigue – hey, it’s Sunday and I am definitely NOT in a hurry. About 15 minutes later I woke up feeling MUCH better. I nibbled some fig newtons and chugged some Powerade and I was ready to go! I ended up having a wonderful weight training session. All made possible by the beauty of Nap.