Running With the Luck of the Irish

This week has been absolutely incredible with my running. I don't think I have ever had a week full of running. In total, I ran 21 miles. Holy Cow, that is a lot of running. I burned a lot of calories, but my weight is still too high. Damn you cookie cake and ice cream!

Since I already told you good readers about my running escapades earlier in the week (You Lady Are Beautiful and Beautiful Days , it's not necessary to recap on this post. But I haven't told you about this weekend. It was one of the hardest weekends of running to date even when I was training for the half marathon (I wasn't too diligent on sticking to the training plan).

On Saturday, I decided to spend another beautiful day outside doing what I love...running. I wanted six miles. I planned on driving up to Hermann Park and running two laps around Rice University and then I remembered something. It's in the middle of the day on Saturday...next to a zoo...on Spring Break. I knew that parking would not be an option for me. So, then I got to thinking about just running up to Hermann Park and running one loop, then running home, which will certainly give me six miles.

What I failed to think about was the time of day. I have been in this Texas Not So Spring haze of beautiful crisp weather and blue skies for a few weeks now. Of course going out to run at 2 p.m. on a Saturday would be great...in fact, AMAZING. All I have to say is that Summer is coming and coming fast. Houston is already in the 80s. The sun feels hot. The humidity is getting higher. And I forgot to put on sunblock.

I ran up to the park on the side with the sun hitting and absolutely no shade. Halfway through, I was not only thinking about how miserable this is, but how I should have gone on the other side. Rookie mistake.

The traffic was nasty trying to get in to the park, which means I made a good decision there. Something right. I was already feeling the sun and chose to do the shorter loop around. I scoped out the new bridge of where I will cross on the way back and then stopped at the benches to do two sets of 25 front ab crunches and two sets of 25 scissor crunches. I continued on my way with a slow start. When I made my way around I crossed underneath the road for the first time ever and crossed the Bill Coats Bridge that opened back in November. I've been looking forward to this opening, because it allows bikers, walkers, and runners to cross over the busy street without having to worry about traffic. Zombies, yes. Traffic No.

That hole used to have a fence.

The Bill Coats Bridge in all its' glory.

Crossing the bridge over Brays Bayou.

Some Texas Bluebonnets in the city. 

I finally made it home sunburnt and wiped out and oh so sore. I may have gotten a little bit of heat exhaustion, too. I ran 5.40 miles in 1:14:15. I burned 509 calories, but probably more than that since I was so drained.

And to end my weekend, I decided to join the hashers for a Hash run on St. Patrick's Day. I wore green. Naturally, it started at Hans Bier Haus in which I had a green beer before my run. Hey, they were only $2. This was supposed to be a short run, but it ended up being around 4.5 miles. I forgot to start my watch, which means I'm going on other people's watches. It was about an hour. It was hot; I was sore; I walked a lot. At one point, 101 Donations and I stopped to get sprayed by a sprinkler. It felt so very good. I finished about an hour. I was then reinitiated back in the group for taking so long to do my second Hash. We went back to the pub and I enjoyed some great conversation. It was actually a really great St. Patty's Day. For the first time in years, I didn't wake up the next day unproductive and hungover. I woke up sore and still wiped out, but not hungover. I think I'm going to do this again. Oh and sadly, my knee high socks didn't get me a win for the best costume.

On May 4, 2013, I will participate again in the Sprint for Life 5K to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Research in honor of MaloRee, BranDee, and MegGan whom lost their mom to this horrible disease. I also run in honor of my Great Aunt, Betty who lost this battle, as well. Please donate here or join us on Team Teapot. My goal is $2,000 this year and I just know we can reach it.