This is SO going to work!

I'm not even lying.

Today I decided to try running in the park near where I'll be working. I had an appointment for an oil change in the relative vicinity, wanted to see what the path is like, and also wanted to figure out how long it would take me to clean up, change, and put on make-up before work. (Yes, I will wear make-up. At least at first!)

Getting to the park is simple. Take a left off the freeway ramp and it's the second right. Changing in the latrine is not exactly ideal, but at least there's a lock on the door of the 2-stall little building. I set a timer on my phone for half an hour and headed down the path.

Please forgive the quality of the images. I had my phone in a ziplock, tucked into my bra. I can't stand arm bands, and I didn't want to wear my hydro-pack so this was my solution. I'm trying to pare down on running gear. I'm still running sans music, though I did have my gps on this time. I wanted to know how far I ran in those 30 minutes.

Gorgeous!

The path is almost entirely shaded, rambling in and out of the woods along a not-busy road. This particular picture is a bit misleading.

The majority of the path looked more like this. Almost entirely downhill. There was one little section that had a rise, but the net elevation loss was about 300 ft.

30 minutes = 2.76 miles. Not bad for not being able to run over the last week or so. Not bad for the small amount of running I've done over the past two months.

For the record my groin is pretty much healed. I did have a few moments of trouble with my right buttock, but I focused on relaxing my hips and it went away. In case I didn't mention, I'm pretty sure the whole issue started because my hips were so tight from 2 run days in a row + 2 hard biking days in a row.

Lesson learned: STRETCH!

The return trip was a different story. I walked. Several times.

It's a beautiful pathway

It was a beautiful day

The incline = not so beautiful

I'm going to have to figure in an additional 10 minutes or so for the return trip, if that's the direction I run. Maybe not 10 minutes. I won't have as much time in the mornings as I did today, and the worst of the incline came in about the last 3/4 mile. I'm not likely to get that far.

Getting cleaned up was no problem. I basically took a sponge bath, except with a washcloth. The only issue I had was the container I brought warm water in, leaked. I now have a new container that does not leak. Problem solved.

After getting cleaned up I drove the other direction through the park, to see if it was up or downhill. Mostly it's uphill, which would be preferable for my morning run when time is an issue. It didn't look like any of it was shaded though. This was at about noon, so it may not be direct sunlight at 7am, or at 5pm.

Either way, I have options. 

When I told Superman I'd enjoyed the run so much I was thinking about going back out there tomorrow, he was flabbergasted. Actually, he teased me because he'd never heard me say I enjoyed a run before. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. It's happened more in the past year, since I've gotten stronger. 

After my run, I went to my Mom's and hung pictures. I still have tile to lay around the kitchen counter tops. There are still the basement stairs and 2nd floor molding to think about. I am not done working at my mother's house. However, I am done with the project I started with my Dad. Somehow, the timing worked out perfectly so I would finish just as I started my new job.

It feels like the end of an era.

After hanging pictures, I came home and enjoyed part 2 of my Christmas gift from Superman.

An hour long massage. All the kinks from hauling mulch and most of the stiffness from running 5.5 miles today is gone. 

And for today, all is right in my world.