Recovery Food Fit for Man and Beast

This summer I was introduced to a new recovery food…popsicles! Recovery foods are food that runners eat right after a run to begin refueling their bodies. Some other good recovery foods that I have found are bananas, grapes, sport bars, chocolate milk…yes! chocolate milk.

The best recovery food after a run on a hot and humid summer evening is a popsicle. And of course I had to share my popsicle with my four-legged running partner, Daisy.

She likes grape flavored also.

Perhaps grape is her favorite.

And make sure you re-hydrate with water.

I didn’t have a bowl so a White Castle cup worked great.

Dodging the Raindrops

We have had rain 16 out of the last 19 days in central Ohio. The gardens and cornfields look great, but trying to find a time to go for a run has been difficult. I will run in a light rain. I will not run in a thunderstorm, which we have had several. Nor will I run in a downpour.

I found a window of opportunity the other evening, just after another thunderstorm. The temperature was great for running…the humidity was not so great.

I took a picture of the stream that runs along the bike path I run on.

As I said it was right after a thunderstorm with torrential rain. You can see by the grass on either side of the stream where the water had been. I was standing on a bridge to take this picture. If I had been there when the water was over-flowing those banks…I wouldn’t have stood on that bridge.

The forecast for the next week calls for more mild temperatures. 80° days and 50° nights with lower humidity. Looking forward to some great running weather!

Free to Run

Happy Independence Day!

To begin my July 4th celebrations I took part in a Free to Run 5k/5 Miler with my Run for God running group.

I’m the one in the middle with the green hat and my daughter-in-law, Katie, is beside me in the grey t-shirt…holding the half-eaten bagel. This was a fun run to celebrate the freedoms we have in this country.

Thank you to all those who have fought and given so much so that we can live in freedom!

Again I say, “Thank you”!

God bless America!

My 4 Legged Running Partner

One of my favorite running partners is my 8 month old puppy, Daisy.

She’s a great pace partner. She runs right beside me.

Looking around and taking in the scenery.

But she keeps pace right with me.

Every now and then she nuzzles my hand with her nose while we’re running. It’s the sweetest thing. We’ll be running along and all of a sudden I feel this cold little nose touch my hand. I look down and she’s looking up at me with this happy expression on her face.

This is our first English Shepherd so I don’t know if it’s an English Shepherd thing or if it’s just Daisy’s personality. I take it as her way of encouraging me, “Keep going, you’re doing great!”

I’m just glad to have such a great, always ready and always willing running partner.

Thanks Daisy for another great run!

While Running I’ve Met the Most Interesting…

ducks?! This guy was waddling along beside the bike path I run on.

He was about 1/2 mile from the lake where all the ducks gather. Don’t know why he was on his own. He even let me get a close-up.

I thought he was a Mallard duck until I researched Mallards. This guy is not a pure Mallard because of the white on the front of his neck and he is bigger.

I love running outside. It seems that I always run into interesting wildlife or beautiful flora and fauna. Last week a deer popped out of a grove of trees about 15 feet from me…of course I did not have my camera with me.

 

Keep Holding On

The other day while I was running I saw this tree literally hanging on to the bank of the river.

Isn’t that amazing how this tree is just perched there at the side of the river? I’ve never seen the root system of a tree exposed like that. I’m sure with each passing year more and more earth gets washed away under it. I have no idea how long this tree has been “holding on” like that. Hmm…so many metaphors come to mind.

It reminds me to never give up, just keep “holding on”.

What does it remind you of? Leave me a comment and let me know what you come up with.

Cap City 1/2 Marathon Recap

My daughter and I had the privilege to be volunteers for this year’s Cap City 1/2 Marathon.

Our first job was to unwrap and hang 14,000 medals. Whew! Thankfully there were several people also helping with this task. They were beautiful medals.

Then our job was to hand out oranges to the finishers. It was a cold morning. Great weather for running, but not the most comfortable for standing.

Here is the finish line. The medics were waiting and ready.

It was fun, it was exciting. I was glad to be able to volunteer, but I really hope to run the 1/2 marathon next year.

The Beauty of Spring

In February I started training to run a half marathon. I’ve been training with a group from our church. During the week we run 2-3 miles on our own Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Saturday’s we run the long runs with the group. Each Saturday we’ve been adding a mile to our run.

On the Saturday long runs we’ve been running on a bike path in our home town. Some of the scenery along the bike path is beautiful and really makes running outdoors a pleasure…even on cold mornings.

It has been really nice to see the change in seasons from when I first started training in February. The other morning as I came around a corner I was greeted by this amazingly, beautiful tree in full bloom.

While the surrounding trees are mostly still brown, this tree greeted me in its beautiful purple splendor.

I love how it hangs over the bike path.

It not only looked beautiful it smelled beautiful too. And the bees loved it. The tree was literally humming from all the bees.

I love the contrast of the purple blooms, the dark brown bark and the blue sky. Seeing things like this is one of the reasons I love to run outside.