After last weekends near-disastrous 11-mile training walk in 100 degree heat, I decided to give it another shot this weekend. I needed to finish it and prove to myself that I was ready to go for my half marathon this coming Sunday, October 10th.
I got up early and packed my fanny pack with some peanut butter pretzels, some Gatorade, and some extra electrolyte pills. I also packed an extra bottle of Gatorade and water in a plastic bag to stash along the route. I wasn’t messing around this time! We jumped in the car and headed up to Healdsburg around 7:30am.
We were going to park at Dry Creek Store, per usual, but not before stashing our beverage supply on the footbridge along Westside Road. This was around the halfway point of our 11 mile trek and we found the perfect place to stash it in a guard rail along the road so we could replenish if we needed to. Then we headed up to the store, parked the car, and headed out!
The weather was a cool 57 degrees and misty. The vineyards look pretty even in the fog, but what I was really relishing in was the fact that is was FIFTY degrees cooler than our walk was last weekend. FIFTY. FIVE-ZERO. I was lovin’ it. I didn’t care if it was drizzly…after my experience with heat exhaustion, I’ll take drizzly any day!
We made pretty good time getting down to Westside Road. Even though it was one of my most ingenious ideas of this marathon season, we found that we really didn’t need the extra fluid. It was cool enough that we weren’t drinking as much water as we had been last weekend. I grabbed a spare Gatorade just in case, and we headed around for the next leg of the walk.
We tried to gauge our distance by the numbers that were painted on the road. We couldn’t tell if they were already pre-marking the course for this weekend’s race or if these were old numbers…at any rate, by about Mile 10 we knew that we were getting close to the turnoff to head back to the store.
I think that Lambert Bridge, which we cross right before the end of this particular training loop, is one of the prettiest points on the course. It’s a one-lane bridge over the Russian River, and the trees on the banks of the river create this lush, shady frame around the water. The sound of the water rushing over the rocks is really refreshing, too. When we crossed the bridge yesterday, there was a huge blue heron standing in the river about 20 yards downstream. It saw us and flew away before I could take a picture, sadly.
After we left the bridge and rounded the last bend, we could see the store in the distance. VICTORY! We made it! 11 miles done, and feeling good…although, I was pretty happy to see my car. Not as happy as last week, but still happy. 
STOP walking?
No problem!! 
Of course, we just couldn’t leave the Dry Creek valley without a sandwich! A veggie sandwich has never tasted this good. Well almost, but not quite. A little mayo, cream cheese, lettuce, avocado, cucumber, and olives…I think the olives give it a special something. Omigod, this sandwich was SO DELICIOUS. The potato salad wasn’t too shabby, either.
On the drive home, we discussed getting a cupcake for dessert but decided to wait for later because we were simply too full.
Then I totally spaced out and missed the freeway exit I was supposed to take and was headed downtown instead, directly towards the cupcakery. Maybe it was the Universe telling us that we deserved it after such a hike. So, we headed in.
I got a yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting, AND a chocolate cupcake with cookies and cream frosting. I know, I’m a lush. At least I didn’t eat them both in one sitting…I ate the yellow one first and saved the cookies-n-cream for later.
I think it’s justified, considering that I walked 11 miles!! And set a new record for steps and calories burned! According to my Bodybugg, I took 23,943 steps and burned 4,592 calories yesterday. Sounds overexaggerated, but by my experience is probably close to accurate. Which is awesome!
Oh, and check out what I came home to:
Lazy little flea bag!!
All in all, we walked, ate sandwiches and cupcakes, and I was home and showered by 2pm. Not too bad! The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping for the week, watching the end of the Giants game (thank goodness they won), having dinner with Mom and Dad, and then meeting the girls for a quick glass of bubbly. A nice little kick-off for Half Marathon Week!
Oh, and that other cupcake?
A nice ending to a great day.
xoxo,
~Melissa
Daily Nutrition Stats:
Not tracked
Daily Bodybugg Stats:
Calories Burned: 4,592, Steps: 23,943, Minutes of Moderate Activity: 3:32
Calorie deficit for the day: Not tracked
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