Week in Review

85 miles
3 doubles
4 days in Raleigh
15-mile long run
6x10 mins. core

Without question, the highlights of this week were the Saturday and Sunday long(er) runs with friends. On Saturday I covered 15 miles in Raleigh's Umstead Park with Michelle (and Thomas, although he could only hang with us ladies for a five-mile loop before heading back home for ambiguous reasons). Umstead is one of the hilliest, toughest places I've ever run (the fact that they host a 100-miler here boggles my mind) but it's also one of the most beautiful. I'll deal with the hills any day in exchange for the seemingly endless miles of wide, soft carriage roads, ample tree cover and breathtaking vistas. Upon finishing the run, Michelle and I returned home and were greeted by the popping of a champagne bottle--thus, the double-fisting of post-run Nuun and pre-brunch mimosas commenced simultaneously. It was a beautiful thing.

This was consumed during our brunch. A lot of it. Do yourself a favor and get up in some.

Speaking of beautiful, I couldn't have asked for better weather (okay, so maybe a tad warmer and a touch less windy) for my Sunday run. After an inspiring morning watched Team USA more than hold their own at World XC, Jordan and I suited up and drove to the Nahant Beach parking lot to meet Emily for some easy miles. Over the next 90 minutes we took in stunning ocean views and even managed to explore an uncharted (to us) area of the Nahant peninsula. Despite my heavy legs from yesterday's mountainous run, I gladly soaked up every minute on my feet this morning.

Our backdrop for much of this morning's run.

It's difficult for me to close this post without mentioning an exciting new running/racing/life development that just unfolded over the past few days, but at the same time it's so freaking awesome that it merits its own post. And so, I'll keep you in suspense for a little bit until I have time to write a proper blog. But trust me, it's legit.

To be continued...