Thursday, October 23, 2014

We'll Drive On and Follow the Sun, Making Sunday Go On and On.

 Sunday was a great day. We finally didn't have a race and we had a whole day to play. The weather was perfect too. cool enough to wear my wool cap, but warm enough not to have to wear gloves or big coats or anything.

 I ran my 6 mile route in the morning. It was so wonderful, people had their Halloween decorations up, my iPhone was playing the best songs, but then at the end, my calf got crazy sore and tight. I had to stop and walk the last 1/2 mile or so. Still so worth it.

 At noon, John and I helped out a friend of ours try to get Union members out to vote and protect their interests by picking the best candidates. We wandered around North Liberty and knocked on doors and left info and felt like we did our part. Then we went to Sugar Bottom beach where we were going to meet a few people to practice riding our bikes on sand to prepare for a race this weekend.

 The two people who said they were coming to practice, both backed-out at the last minute. So, we figured it was just us. We decided to explore any trail we saw around there. The leaves were amazing all around the lake. We then went back to the playground to ride a little sand and saw two of our bike racer friends hanging out there. At first I was confused and thought it was a great coincidence that they just happened to be there. Then I realized that they saw our post up and decided to practice with us. Score!

 At first we rode on the sand in the playground, but then John decided to try the beach out. It was all deserted, so we weren't ruining things for any kids who wanted to play. The beach was so damn fun. Half of the sand was wet, so it was really really easy to ride, but then there were thicker, drier patches that made our bikes fishtail like crazy underneath us and that was even more fun.

 How cool does that look?

 Initially, I thought my calf hurt so much because of these lovely bruises I acquired at the last Cyclocross race I did, but now I think it's because I'm running so sporadically and I'm old, so my muscles and tendons are not nearly as supple as they used to be. So, as soon as my calf feels a little less sore, I'm going to try to do shorter runs almost every day of the week. I'll let you all know how that works.

Two of the guys we rode with decided to take their cyclocross bikes on the mountain bike trails, but John and I were pretty fried from the race the day before and our runs earlier in the day, so we opted to go to the Brew Pub in Solon for 2 for 1 drinks and dinner over happy hour. It was a particularly happy hour for me after a very happy day. I love Fall in Iowa.

No comments: