That Darn 2.4 Mile Mark

Today I went for a wog around a local park that I know the distance on.  5 trips around is 3.3 miles, but there's a walk way through the park that if you cut through, it's just about a 3.1.  I wanted to get a time of me doing it outside without the treadmill controlling my pace, and to deal with inclines and real distractions.  I choose this park also because it's not hard pavement and my shins appreciated it!

Here was my first trip (and again, I'm not 100% on the distance, it could have been a tiny bit less, and closer to the 3.1 mark)

And that couldn't be more true.  It was a minute or so into my third lap and I died.  I wanted to quit. I wanted to walk across the park and get in the car and head home.  I didn't, but I let it get to me, and I let it slow me down. I fought with myself the entire lap.  

I registered for my first 5K and it's in 3 weeks.  So I figure I will practice outside on Wednesdays and Sundays until the big day pretty much. My next trip out this Wednesday I plan on making a few changes. The first is that I will not walk 4-5 minutes in my warmup, like I did today. I will do a little back and forth, and stretch, but I want to take off on my first 4min jog, and see how that affects my time. Because I know I'm not going to take off at the race walking, so I want to get a better feel. 

I've been doing 4 min jog with 2 min walks.  Although on lap three, I pretty much walked most of it. I did like a min jog, and then 2 min walk, then jogged until my timer beeped again and then I proceeded to walk.  But I was determined to do the distance just to know that I could.  I know it's slow, and most people reading this would be shocked I'm going to do the 5k anyhow, but frankly I need to do it and get the fear of the first one over.  Who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself! 

I also know that when I'm actually there - my walking pace will be faster.  When I was walking today, by myself I tend to go much slower than I would with others around me.  Either way - it's my race, and regardless of how long it takes - I'll be the one crossing the line and I need to be happy with how I did. So I can't compare myself to anyone else. 

Husband was there to cheer me on, give me support, and of course, snap pictures.

And since I forgot to talk about the trail we went on the other day (which by the way was AMAZING, and intense) - here's some pictures.

This was at the Ledges trail, in Peninsula.  There are so many little side trails and connections that I couldn't remember them all or where which pics came from where.

I do NOT envy that dude running up. I died walking up the steps!

Gorge Metro Park

Hubs and I decided today would be a great day to check out another park.  We settled on Gorge Metro Park.  Neither of us had been there and from looking online, there were quite a few paths you could take.

We got there and originally were going to take Highbridge trail, so we parked on the regular lot and just walked over.  We started walking, and walking and walking, and were totally bored.  It wasn't even remotely interesting to look at. So we turned around and decided to take the Gorge Trail.  It's a level 3, and I can now see why.  Especially after all the rain, lots of mudsliding going on.

There's a part of it that is washed out, so we walked part way through it, an turned around (since we'd have to anyhow). All in all we walked about 3.3 miles and really had a great time outside. It would have been nice if it were a tiny bit warmer, but we survived regardless.  This and the Deep Lock Quarry are two that we want to go back to and check out again.

Husband doesn't leave home without his camera, so he snagged a few pictures.

The water was beautiful!

The water made a pretty wooshing sound! ;)

Husband, resting

And since he was resting, I took the camera! 

Thank gosh for a handful of fences, Im pretty clumsy. 

Deep Lock Quarry Exploring

This weekend started off with some miles at the gym. Husband is training for the Tour de Cure (feel free to chip in a few bucks if you'd like!) in Cuyahoga Falls this June, and I'm super excited for him. He is a diabetic and this will be his first ever 'event' he's participated in like this! Go hubs! But after that, we decided to check out a new trail in the MetroPark system that he has been wanting to get out to.  So we packed up our gear, grabbed a quick lunch at Jimmy Johns (ps - totally not worth it IMO) and off we went.

We went to the Deep Lock Quarry, and it shows on the map the Quarry Trail is 1.2 miles. So we decided to explore off the trail in the beginning, and then loop back to the trail and enjoy. We clocked about 2 miles total, and just had a lot of fun. I'm glad we got out there early, it was getting really humid and the sun was beaming down straight overhead. I am NOT an outdoorsy type of person, so this was quite a step for me.  We took some pictures along the way and I thought I'd share.  Anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to check this short trail out should really make a point to.  I can only imagine when the leaves fill in and then in the fall when they change colors how beautiful it would be! 

Part of one of the towpath trails that you can access from the Deep Lock Quarry entrance.

Starting out on the actual trail. Proof that I battled bugs (ew) for this trail for hubs.








I wanted to climb up, husband had a different idea.. He didn't want to haul me out with a broken leg.. So we took the long way up to the top.



Resting. It was so beautiful looking down!