Wow, coming back from vacation is such a drag. My days were so relaxed, so casual. Now it's back to the routine. I really struggled to get up this morning when the alarm went off. I could have stayed in bed, but I have a goal today. I want to get back to the gym, and in order to do that, I need to get moving early and get half of my work for the day done. I also wanted to write this post before I started.
Well, I met another goal in 2010, my own "Bridge Run". This is the bridge.
Beautiful, isn't it? Let me explain a little. It's a concrete arch bridge that spans the intercoastal waterway and goes over to the beach side where mom used to live "before the hurricanes". It's a mile over and a mile back.
The last time we went, my goal was to "walk the bridge". It's something I've always wanted to do and I was so thrilled to have done it at that time. I said at that point that my next trip, I would run the bridge. So when we got to Florida, I was so anxious to start running again. But because of the holiday and the weather, it was later in the week before I finally got a day to go.
At first, I was thought I better just walk first, I haven't been running, there is a slight incline, I don't want to get hurt, and start talking myself right out of it. That's when I decided "just do it". So I got up one morning and said this is the day. Of course, that's when I realized I had wiped out all my running playlists from my iPod. Oh, well, I still had music, just not the usual.
And, of course, I stopped to take pictures while I was running. The view is just breathtaking!
It was a beautiful day, blue sky, nice little breeze, sun shining and warming my face as I started my run. There is no other way to describe it other than to show you. These pictures are from the top of the bridge.
Talk about a runner's high. So beautiful.
So I did it. I ran the bridge, a mile in each direction. Total distance, two miles, but I wasn't finished. At the base of the bridge, there is a big beautiful park. So I entered the park and continued to run. These are a few pictures taken from the park.
When I was all done, I wanted to try out the self-timer on my camera to get a shot of me with the thumbs up sign. Well, I got the camera all set up on the hood of the car, set the timer, stood back and waited and waited. Cars were driving by and looking at me standing there with the thumbs up sign. Probably thought I was nutso. Why was this crazy lady with the pink Peace sign hat giving them the thumbs up sign? Finally, the camera took the picture.
I ran the bridge twice during this trip. The second day, I ran from the beach down to the bridge, over and back, back to the beach. I wanted to run further, down to the condo where Mom used to live, but I started feeling it in my knee so I backed off. And the second day, I didn't really run intervals. I stopped to walk only two times for about a minute each. I ran about 3 miles the first day, and 4 miles the second. And after that second run, I felt it. My body knew that it had a good workout.
So today I'm hopefully headed back to the gym to start working out again. I want to run outdoors, but just too cold this week. So I'll hit the treadmill and get this body moving again. I'll just imagine that I'm running over that beautiful bridge.
