Yesterday Tim and I ran (well, I walked/jogged to be precise) the Race for the Cure. The weather was perfect for running – cool and slightly overcast. Tim did excellently – ran the whole way. I, on the other hand, ran the first mile and then walked/jogged the rest of the way. I also got confused as to where, exactly, the finish line was located. I assumed it was under the huge balloon arch that designated the starting line. After crossing under the arch, I wandered around for a bit, looking for Tim. When I couldn’t find him anywhere, I realized that beyond the arch was the huge number 3, designating the third mile mark. And… people were still running. I flowed back into line and ran the 1 or 2 minutes to the real finish line, just up and around the corner. I was super frustrated with myself for not catching on immediately and adding 5 minutes to my time, but it was a still a great experience. The Race for the Cure is a very happy/sad experience. It’s amazing to see 9,000 gathered together in a stand against a disease, exercising together and supporting each other. It’s also super sad to see the long lists of loved ones who have died from cancer pinned to the backs of people’s shirts.
To cap off our 5K, Tim and I decided to take a bike ride. We mapped out our route, from Rapids City, IL to a certain jog in the road that we biked to last time. According to Googlemaps, the round trip route was about 22 miles:
We loaded up the bikes on the Civic and headed out. Again, it was a perfect day for biking – cool, overcast. As long as we didn’t stop in one place for too long, the bugs were not too annoying. We started off in Rapids City and biked through Port Byron, past Cordova, and to the jog in the road. It sure seemed much longer than any other 22 mile ride we had taken, but we chalked it up to being tired from the run.
We finally returned to our car, never so happy to see it before. Our shoulders, necks, taints – anything that was in constant contact with the bikes was throbbing. Once we arrived home, we looked at the map more closely and realized that we originally mapped the wrong jog! We actually biked 13 miles further than we intended:
No wonder we were so exhausted!! It really was a great ride, though, and a good training experience for RAGBRAI. We learned the importance of bringing snacks (dry-roasted peanuts), lubricating delicate body areas that you DO NOT want chafed, and taking breaks to give your shoulders and arms a rest from the unforgiving road bike tires.
To reward ourselves for all the exercise, we had a delicious supper of fried mushrooms and pork-T at Filling Station. We continued the healthy eating spree with a super delicious, cooked-by-Tim-with-love breakfast this morning. He cooked up some spicy chorizo and combined it with scrambled eggs, cheese, avocado, fresh green onions, and Salsa Brava and rolled it all up in a chewy, toasted tortilla. It very well could have been the tastiest burrito I have ever eaten.
So that was Saturday. Today is Sunday, and I have a list of like 30 things I would like to get done today. We’ll see how long the coffee buzz lasts…