A lovely day for a 15K

I have yet to blog about the last races I did before summer. Next time, I'll blog about The Claw Run 10 miles, which turned out to be quite a wonderful adventure with a big surprise at the end. After that, I'll blog about the Police Appreciation Run 10K where I had a great time with my hubby.

In the meantime, I was thrilled to run 15K (about 9.3 miles) on Wednesday because I haven't gone that far in a while.

The summer heat has been ferocious, so it's difficult to go more than 3 or 4 miles at a time. I still refuse to get up early enough to avoid the sun, so I have to suffer for it when I do run. I've been fairly consistent, running every other day between 2 and 6 miles. My neighborhood is okay, but I like some variety in scenery.

I searched how far it was to the nearest beach (Treasure Island). A round trip was about 15K. I decided to run part of the route on Monday to see how it felt. Much of it was beautiful with lots of cloud cover, which I appreciated. I got drizzled on a little bit, but not too bad.

After crossing the drawbridge leading to the beach, I decided to turn around and call it good. I assumed my total mileage would be about 6, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had actually done 7 miles. Only 2 shy of the goal!

On Wednesday, I got up around 7:30 wondering if it would rain during my run. It poured all day Tuesday, and the forecast didn't look good. So I took an older pair of shoes and decided to go for it anyway.

I'm so happy that I did. Cloud cover, cool breeze, and the beach in the morning...I couldn't have asked for a better set-up for my longer run.

View from the drawbridge
I didn't time myself, and I didn't go fast. I really enjoyed it, especially when I got to the beach. I took that opportunity to walk to the water. It was the day before July 4th, so I could see some set-up happening for the beach fireworks. Sadly, it rained a lot on the 4th, so I didn't make it to the beach fireworks this year.

On the way back, I saw this osprey on the drawbridge. He was fishing.

The osprey dove, but missed the fish. I wish I had caught him at the dive. Here he is pulling up to come back around for another go.
 Whenever I see osprey on a run, I'm reminded of Isaiah 40:31:

"but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint."

It encourages me so much to keep going and not grow weary. Near the end, I admit it was really difficult. Happily, I made it home and plan to do this route again in the near future.

Next time, The Claw Run.


Comments

  1. Running near water has to be one of the best experiences. Seeing the waves, the water and the wildlife always lifts me - makes me feel like all's right in the world.

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