Unnamable

I can't even think of a name for this blog...today was crazy. Sue and I headed to Matter Park at 8:45 this morning to walk 8 miles. This was our first time walking the river walkway. So, we were told that if we started at one end (by Vogals in downtown), walked clear to the other end (center of Matter Park), around the pond twice, and all the way back to my car, it would be 5 miles. Then we would need to turn around walk 1.5 miles and then back again to make the additional 3. So, that was the plan. First let me say, that the lake we walked around last week, was completely flat terrain compared to the riverwalk, or at least the first part of the riverwalk. The big hills by the hospital had me completely sucking wind and wishing that I was not doing this crazy marathon. Once we got farther along and the path evens out, it was quite lovely and enjoyable. However, knowing that we had to go back and do the hills again and then turn around and do them AGAIN, had me competely beside myself. On the way back the first time, I was hurting in my hip on the big hill, so I told Sue, that I wanted her to stop her clock when we got to the end, we would jump in the car and drive to the other end in Matter Park and walk the last 3 from there to avoid doing the hilly part a 3rd time. So, that was the plan. So, at 5 miles, we were under time, Yippee! Then as we started the last 3 miles from the other end, we were on time at 6 miles. Then the unthinkable happened. We needed to turn around when we got to the 1.5 mile marker. Now, I could swear when we were walking the first time, that I was sure we got to that marker before we entered the big hill. So, we're walking along and we pass 1.25 and then we get to the bottom of the hill and we haven't seen the 1.5 marker. So, I start up the hill. Sue is trying to convince me to turn around and just count it as close to 8, but I am determined to be accurate. So, up the hill we go. When we get clear to the top, we come to the 1.75 marker!!! WE HAD MISSED THE 1.5 MARKER!!!! I'm pretty sure there was some swearing going on. Sue was beyond angry. She was really feeling it today and to find out that we had done an extra 1/2 mile was not a good thing. So, at the bottom of the hill, there was the 1.5 marker so faded that it was easy to miss. I'm sure we'll laugh about this someday, but it won't be today...or even tomorrow. The funny thing was, I was truckin up that hill, not nearly in the pain that I was the first time and I proceeded to be the cheerleader for Sue that we could do this. We had totally switched roles. She was whining around and I was trying to encourage. Well, this lasted for only so long and then I got mad. First let me explain that the plan for the remainder of this day was yard work. My yard was so covered in sticks that it was hard to tell if I had grass. So, knowing the hours of back breaking yard work ahead of us, didn't help the dispositions. She kept wanting to dwell on that, and I really needed to not think about it. One obstacle at a time was my philosophy. So, we got a little ouchy with each other, but we made it back to the car in one piece. 8.5 miles down. We did decide as we walked today, that it officially wasn't really fun anymore. Once you pass that 8 mile mark, it just becomes hard and super tiring. As I am typing this, it is dawning on me that we checked our time at the wrong place. I thought we should check it when we had .25 left to go, but we should have checked it when we had .5 to go. So, knowing that, we were probably on time. I thought we were 4.5 min over, so that would make sense. It takes about that if I'm walking an 18 min. pace. So, not faster today, but on time, which is huge considering the hills. I thought I would die! To all my friends who walk the riverwalk faithfully, you are my heros. You can also have your riverwalk...not sure I'll be returning any time soon. ;) So, did we actually do the yard work??? YEP! All done...spent about 2 hrs. picking up sticks and then Sue airiated (sp?) my yard. So, I am just now sitting down for the first time today and it is 4:00pm. I think I'm going to go soak in the tub. I actually feel good, but I'm tired.