Happy Days to Kendall Hills

Tonight Brian and I started at the Happy Days parking lot at 7:00 and ran to Kendall Hills. The air was cooler but still felt pretty thick and hard to breathe. We both felt pretty sluggish, but that changed when we saw a group of high school runners behind us. We kept the pace up for a short distance from the Ice Box to the Overlook to keep ahead of them. It wasn't real fast but enough to get us warmed up and feeling better about the run.

When we got to Kendall Hills, we saw a big deer right on the trail. Brian and I tried to get closer. It ran off into the woods and I chased after it for a little while. Once we got to the Sound of Music hill we saw a pack of 4 or 5 deer near the Salt Run Trail. We followed these deer all over for about 30 minutes or so, then decided to head back before it got too dark.

We ended up with 8.25 miles according to Brian's Garmin. It was fun adding something different to the run and amazing how much farther you can run when there's an animal to follow!

BR Familiarization Training Run

Brian got new plates!!

This afternoon at 3:00 I met Brian at the Happy Days parking lot for the Burning River familiarization run. I will be pacing Brian the last 50K of the race. Today's run consisted of doing the last 30 miles of the BR course, but I planned on cutting it short today.

After a short wait, a mini-van pulled up with runners who parked in Cuyahoga Falls and carpooled to Happy Days. In the vehicle were Kirk, Star, Mark, and Cathryn. Another runner, Sean from Poland, later met us on the trails.

The temperature was very hot today, perfect for those training for BR to get used to the heat. I stayed with the group until past the Salt Run Trail, then headed back. I was happy to end up with around 12 miles for the day. I sure felt whipped from the heat, but it was fun running with the group! Below are some pictures from the run.

Summer Solstice Night Run

Tonight Jim Harris planned a "night" run on the trails starting at Boston Store at 6:30. Since Sunday was the longest day of the year, tonight's sunset wouldn't be till past 9 so we would run our entire run in light.

When I got back to my apartment after work, I took a nap. I woke up at 6:15 and it takes me 20-25 minutes to get to the Cuyahoga Valley!! I hurried up, got my running clothes on and bolted out the door. On the way there, Brian called me and I told him that they could leave without me and I would catch up.

I got to Boston Store parking lot at 6:40 and started running within a matter of seconds. The plan was to do the Pine Lane loop first then go from there. I ran the entire first huge uphill and continued to keep a quick pace. I was forced to walk some of the hills though since I was huffing and puffing pretty good.

After about 3 miles in, I caught up to them at the stream crossing. There were 5 runners total: Jim and Heath Harris, TJ Hawk and a girl named Brenda.

Once we got back to our cars with 8 miles in the bag, we took a quick rest, refueled and then headed out to run the Brandywine Loop. Brian, TJ and I finished with 14 miles and Jim went back out for a little more.

I haven't been running much lately, but I felt great tonight despite the humidity. We kept a pretty quick pace the whole time and got some good hill work in.

Squirrel

When I came home from work today there were two squirrels sitting on a picnic table outside my apartment. They both seemed pretty tame. I went inside, got some crackers and fed one from my hand!

Happy Father's Day

Today my brother and I met at Mill Creek Park at 7 AM for a run. I haven't run here for quite awhile, so it was nice getting back. Another runner, Todd Hanks (not Tom :p), also showed up for the run today. We started out clockwise around Lake Glacier, ran to the Mill and back to our cars. I decided to call it a day with about 7.5 miles while Brian and Todd continued on for another loop.



After the run, my parents, Brian, and I drove over to the Harris' house for Heath's graduation party. The food and weather were great! Jim told us the food was catered from Ester's which is a restaurant on the northwest side of Warren by my parents' house. We'll definitely have to go there now that we know how good the food is! Afterward, I went fishing on the causeway at Mosquito Lake. I ended up catching a fish that had stripes like a tiger and seeing a HUGE catfish flop in the air out of the water.

I then drove to Viking Vineyards by Kent to have some wine and cheese and celebrate Father's Day with my parents, Brian, Tami and her parents. It was a great way to end a beautiful day!

Happy Days Run

This evening, I met Brian and Greg Murray at the Happy Days parking lot at 6:30 for an easy 6 mile run. This was my 2nd run since the marathon and I felt pretty good despite the heat and humidity. We ran out to Kendall Hills via the ledges trail, ran on the No Frills, Just Hills course, and headed back to our cars.