52 Snapshots of Life} Week 38: Feet

While most of the week was spent training our friends to run, Henri and I were able to go out by ourselves a few times. Sure, a lot of time is spent by ourselves as they are learning endurance, but there is something different about it being just us for an entire run, especially when we go out to the woods and there is no one around.

I knew the location had a route that was really hilly, thus we have not attempted it with our trainees, nor in the heat because it was really hard the day we discovered it. While that route had gone through mostly prairie, thus being in direct sunlight most of the time, I wondered if the opposite direction would head into the forest, thus being mostly tree cover. Even though the temps were in the low 70's, we needed to find a location with either lots of wind or lots of shade. We found the shade!

We found some hills, too. It might have been payback for my "coaching" this past week, choosing something that was difficult for me. It was hard, but I was off for two weeks. I'm trying not to beat myself up about my speed or the struggle. I've eased into running again this week. I've been running at slower speeds to stay with the pack, but that's okay. That has probably been good for me. Really, my speed wasn't that bad. I shouldn't put so much pressure on myself.

So, while there have been many legs on our runs this week, it was back to just ours. We enjoyed a new, scenic run through the woods. The sun was breaking through the trees. Squirrels were snacking on the path, then running away as Henri's nails click, click, click-ed towards them. It was quiet. There was hardly anyone else around. Everything was still pretty green, but I'm sure that will change soon.