Last weekend, I….
- Stayed up until 5 am talking and drinking around a campfire
- Didn’t shower for 48 hours – and sweat profusely in that time
- Ate a lot of s’mores and hot dogs
- Drank more Bud Light & Coors than I care to admit
- Slept in a tent on a sloped hill
- Took a nap in a hammock (it was glorious)
- Hung out with Jedi the Pug (Barklee Ann is jealous, I know…)
Let’s just say camping was a huge success. It’s been years since I last went camping with my family. I honestly don’t even remember when the last camping trip was but it was likely in Michigan and I was probably in high school. Since then, my brother has been trying to get a camping trip planned. Finally, this year, I committed a weekend on my calendar to making the trip to Bloomington, IN. My brother is one of those people that has ALL of the gear that you could ever need for a weekend camping trip. He fogged the camping site for bugs before Manny and I arrived, brought us a tent to use (cuz hello, we don’t own one), bought the majority of our food along with the utensils needed to cook it, and let us use his air mattress pads so we didn’t have to sleep on rocks for two nights. It’s true camping but with all the things that I would forget if I planned it on my own (related: we didn’t even bring pillows or towels. That’s how unprepared I was and how prepared everyone else was.)
When we planned the trip we didn’t realize that it was over the summer solstice. It must have been fate that we’d celebrate the beginning of the summer by doing something we did throughout my childhood. It’s always refreshing to get out of the city for a weekend but especially when it’s to get a big dose of fresh air (well except for our B.O.) and time with my family. I think I’ll be camping again sooner rather than later – I’m just going to make sure it’s not YEARS before we do it again.
Running has felt so much more enjoyable lately. I ran 30+ miles last week (baby steps!) and even managed my first real workout since before Boston. I surprised myself in that workout – just 4 x 3 min surges but I managed a faster pace than I thought I would. I had way more motivation to get out and run than I did a month ago. I am still having a hard time switching back to AM workouts and the humidity in Chicago has certainly been something to struggle with. But I still have a few more weeks of easy base mileage before I jump into any kind of real training schedule. Slowly, but surely I think I’m getting my legs (and my fire) back. I’m still working through the details of this fall, but I will definitely jump into a 5k and a 10k this summer to see where my fitness is at. I’m sure it will be slightly humbling but at least I’ll know what I need to work on. I’m starting to get more excited about training, especially now that I’ve taken 4 weeks to just run when I feel like it.
More smiles lately! (and hey, I can touch my toes!)
Besides, the camping trip was more relaxing when I didn’t feel the need to squeeze a run in. :)
- J
