45 miles + 12 years

As a part 2 of our 12-year anniversary celebration, we got a babysitter for the boys for several hours one day (it was actually the girls' last day of school) and did a long bike ride. I love getting out with Ben during the day and doing something that would normally be impossible with the kids. We conquered the American Tobacco Trail on our bikes! We had run the first part of the trail on our half marathon and had biked the second half of the trail with the boys earlier. This time we started at one end and biked the entire 22 miles (plus some) and ended in downtown Durham. We took a break and had lunch at Only Burger. Their onion rings are so good. I tried their famous fried green tomato burger with a fried egg and it was delicious. After stuffing ourselves (probably not the best idea during a long ride, but we survived) we made the return trip back to Apex for a total of 45 miles. My legs didn't start really burning until the last 5 miles. Our bottoms were sore much sooner. We practically had the entire trail to ourselves so we were able to ride next to each other and chat most of the time. It was fun to celebrate 12 years doing something challenging and rewarding.

Selfies while riding. Not that easy.

Memorial Day

We all camped out in the backyard with the fireflies and forest sounds. I forget how noisy it gets back in the forest at night with frogs and owls and bugs. We had a fire and roasted marshmallows. Ben made pancakes in the morning and then we loaded up all the bikes for a family bike ride on the American Tobacco Trail. It was really hot on Memorial Day but the breeze while biking helped, as well as the shady trail. The girls were troopers and we managed to ride 10 miles which is a lot for their little legs. The promise of ice cream at the end helped move them along. The boys hung out in the bike trailer and fought for the last few miles. We stopped at Goodberry's on the way home for yummy frozen custard. We broke out the slip 'n slide when we got home and then grilled veggies from our farmer's market trip for dinner and had a yummy strawberry cobbler for dessert.

bike ride

We took advantage of Oliver's last day of preschool and did a long bike ride while he was at school. The bike trailer gets a little tight with both boys in it and they tend to fight with each other so it was nice to just have Simon. We rode the American Tobacco Trail and started where I had ended my half marathon so we could see what the rest of the trail was like. We did the last 10 miles of the trail. It ends right in downtown Durham by the ballpark which is fun. We were hoping to have lunch but ran out of time so we had a quick snack and then rode the 10 miles back to the car. So much of the trail was lined with honeysuckle and it smelled so good.

half marathon!!

I've never been much of a dedicated runner. I have started and stopped a few times over the years and never kept with it long enough to build up good endurance. I always just felt awful when I would run and hated doing it. But over the last year I've been trying to build strength and focus on my fitness. I was surprised and happy to see that after keeping with it for a while, I could actually run 3 miles without stopping or feeling like I was going to die. While running a few times a week, I also did some Jillian Michaels workouts almost daily and they really helped me build strength. I had never been able to do a real push-up and now I can do 10 easily! I was again happy and surprised to see that those workouts actually worked! My runs kept getting a bit longer. I would usually just set out to run 3 or 4 miles and then push myself if I was feeling good. One day I planned for 6 miles and ended up pushing myself to do 10. I realized a half marathon wasn't that far off and something I could actually do. There weren't any races to sign up for in the near future and I didn't want to stress myself out with a training schedule for a race months away. Plus I had a knee injury and wasn't sure if that would return. So I decided to just go ahead and run my own personal half marathon.

I think one of the reasons I have gotten more into running lately is the incredible trail system here. There are so many greenway trails that connect all over the city and they often pass around beautiful lakes and are always lined with trees and so green. Many Saturday mornings we have all headed out first thing and found a greenway trail that starts at a playground and Ben and I have taken turns running the trail while the kids play. It's been a good way to get out and explore the area. And since I don't usually get much time to myself, I have really loved the quiet time I get when I can go for a run by myself.

The American Tobacco Trail was the perfect spot for a half marathon. The whole trail is over 22 miles long. (It was formerly a rail line that served the tobacco plants and warehouses in downtown Durham.) It's mostly shady and flat. Most of my longer runs had just been roundtrip routes or loops that I did multiple times so it was fun to actually run 13 miles one way and see how far it looked on a map. I started early Saturday morning at the very end of the trail and ran 13.1 miles in one direction. Ben and the kids greeted me and cheered me on at the end of my run. I wasn't sure how I would do but I felt great the whole time and never had to stop. I kept a pretty steady pace and I was so glad to have cooler weather (it was 48 degrees when I started). I didn't even feel like I was going to die at the end! It was fun to see the kids with their sign. Ben has always been a runner and was so supportive of my "training" (I didn't really do much intentional training since I didn't decide to actually run the half marathon until maybe a month before). He would watch the kids whenever he could so I could get out for a run and he would encourage me to go. After I finished my half marathon, he ran the return trip back to where I had parked his car. It was fun to run our own little marathon relay that morning. And nice that someone else was sore with me for the next few days.

I've been trying to run a few times a week since the half marathon and I've actually shaved over 2 minutes off of my average mile pace. I haven't intentionally been trying to run faster, I think I've just been getting stronger which is nice to see. Although now I have to contend with the heat and humidity of summer...

Fitness Week: biking, running, golfing

Fitness week was cut short by the start of our New England road trip. But, we did pack in a few things before we left. We went on a family bike ride one evening which was super fun. We rode 7 miles on the American Tobacco Trail. The boys did much better in the bike trailer this time and Elsa was a bundle of energy, ready to ride another 7 miles (Amelia, not so much).

We walked around this little lake one evening and Ben took turns running with the girls.

And finally, a little disc golf in crazy hot weather.