Beyond the Blog Days 12/13 (May 9/10): Charlotte and Concord
I started out on Sunday running through Carriage Downs with Cheryl. It was great to be able to just enjoy the morning and not have to worry about taking breaks or wondering where I was. We just talked about the events of the day before as well as getting caught up on all of the family stuff. Of course, all of our kids’ lives were going at their usual breakneck pace, and Cheryl’s mom Linda was doing a great job keeping things together, but it was still a major stressor on the family with me being away.
After our early morning ruck I headed into Charlotte to meet Ted, Charlie, and Dmitri (KGB) in Freedom Park. It was especially nice to come back to this spot, since the last time I was there was filming a piece for Spectrum News in an absolute downpour. As fun as that was, running around the pond with friends as part of the actual event itself was much more satisfying. A few miles later I met up with Keith and his son, and we had some great conversation. Duncan is an awesome kid and also a very motivated, determined runner. We’ve gone full circle within our group of friends, now our kids are running and they are faster than us. Its a beautiful thing.
I took a break early afternoon, stopping at Ted and Cyn’s house. They had so generously bought me a tuna sub and chips from a local deli…..it was amazing and totally restorative. They are such dear friends and always considerate. After destroying the sub, we headed back out to finish up my miles for the day in Freedom Park. I still had about 5 to go, but I wanted to get some time alone in the woods in University, another one of my training grounds. I love the quiet, shaded trails, and on a late Sunday afternoon, I’d be all alone. There is one trail in particular that winds through the woods, over a broken old bridge...I find it so peaceful, especially at my snails’ pace. It was a great end to the day.
The next morning, I had more local running planned, intending to leave directly from my house to finish at Gold Hill. For whatever reason, I could not get a ride back from my end point, so I decided to begin the day’s Ruck at the 300 Gym and work my way around the greenway and through the center of town. I could get in 25 miles easy just by doing that loop twice, and it seemed fitting to start from 300, where so much of my cross-training was done over the last six months.
About 10 miles into my “Concord Only” route, I met our dear family friend Claudia, who was headed out to meet a girlfriend for lunch. She pulled over on the side of the road and we just chatted...it meant a lot to have her take the time, asking how I was and how I thought this would all end. I continued on, and was getting a bit over-cooked in the growing heat and humidity, but I had the Greenway to myself, and was enjoying the newer portions which I had never run on before. I got in about 19 before really gassing out, and decided to Return home to finish my miles on the treadmill
I was pretty tired from all of the weekend activity with friends and family, and because I had so much trouble falling sleeping at home, that night I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn near Concord Mills to get caught up on my rest. I missed the family but it was so worth it!
The next morning we would be off and running for the 10 day haul to the beach, and my new tribe would be Monty and Matt. What adventures would we have?
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