If the following blog post is confusing to you, read this, and it will no longer be. Day 1: Hike. There's a pretty little trail in the woods in Roseville that we hiked tonight. Mostly, I have two words to describe that trek, and they are mosquitoes and darkness. I guess it makes things more adventurous if you can't even tell if you're on the trail or not. We thought we had only gone for 20 minutes after we reached the end of the trail, so we hoofed it up a few steep neighborhood streets. We realized later that we had looked at the wrong time, so we actually ended up hiking for about 40 minutes. It was a good first run of things, I'd say.
Day 2: Run. It was boiling hot outside today. At least 90 degrees and the first time I've run in a two weeks. I tried to put mind over matter and remember that the first run in a while always hurts, and 30 minutes is not that long. There's a stretch of large lilac bushes that have grown up over a running trail in the middle of Summit Avenue, and now the leaves and flowers are fully bloomed. This is always my favorite stretch of the trail because it's like running through a tunnel of foliage. Made it back and stood in front of the air conditioner for a good ten minutes after the fact.
Day 3: Bike. Well, I ordered a helmet from Amazon so I could road bike and not feel like I was going to die. I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to aimlessly pedal for 30 minutes. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. My bike clanked a lot over the cracks in the road, and I was convinced something was loose or about to fall off my bike. However, when I got home and searched it, there was nothing to be found. I forgot to take a picture because my biking skills are minimal, and I was mostly focused on stopping and starting and not getting run over. You'll just have to take my word for it today.
Day 4: Run. Such a lovely night for a run. Dusky and cool, and I had a lot on my mind so it felt good to blow off some steam and think through some things. At the end of my run, I stopped under a very large tree with ancient branches that grew up over the house it stood in front of and canopied over the street. Struck by how resounding and heroic it seemed, blowing powerfully and slowly, it's leaves rippling in slow, rustling waves, I had to stop and watch it for a bit. I won't explain the detail of how or why here, but it stood as a reminder of God's faithfulness to me on a day where steadfastness and constancy seemed far.
Day 5: Hike. EXTREME HIKE! Dramatic, I know. But it was extreme because we (accidentally) ended up hiking on the side of a very slippery and steep bluff. In the rain. In the mud. In the dark. We biked down to the gorge at dusk and decided to take one of the lower trails alongside the river. Normally, runners take the sidewalk or high dirt trail, and trail runners and hikers go for the lower trail as there are more inclines and the path isn't as even. Somehow, though, we ended up on a third mystery trail that skirted along the outside of the bluff, and after fifteen minutes of slow going---clinging to trees so we wouldn't fall down the steep ledge, crawling over the parts that were steep and slippery with mud, stopping and staring at steep dips in the path that we couldn't figure out how to cross for a minute or so---we started feeling a little stuck. Climb the rock face? No, too slippery. Butt slide down to the river? Too steep and too many trees. We decided to keep poking along and eventually came to a place where we could hands-and-knees crawl to the bottom path. It was terrifying and absolutely awesome. Kudos to Drew for doing it with a large backpack with two helmets and shoes dangling from the outside.
Day 6: Rest day. Woop woop. And rest I did. Day 7: Bike. I got home from work and left right away to bike straight up Lexington to meet some friends for the evening. I wish all streets were bike friendly as it's easy to feel like you're going to get run over when biking on narrow roads during rush hour. Confession: I biked on the sidewalk for a stretch of the road that was narrow and packed with traffic and I was scolded by a late-twenties woman with a backpack who pointed her finger at me and told me vehemently "Bikers are supposed to be on the road!" I think I just stared at her blankly, and by the time what she had said registered, I had already passed her. After the street widened out, I ventured out and had a great ride the rest of the way. Plus of riding your bike during rush hour? Skipping all the long lines at traffic lights.
