Ran in the Dolomites today, woah it's really beautiful up there. Had a lot of elevation gain today, long steep inclines that dropped me to a slow pace, but I didn't walk which is the goal when it's like that. But.. On the way back I came across some really pretty horses and at first I just stopped so I wouldn't startle them. But then I took out my phone and started taking pictures, I took a video and was just messing around so I bowed to the horse like Hargrid says to do in Harry Potter with hippogriffs- and the horse (who had been standing a couple meters sea immediately came up and started sniffing me and nudging me with its head and letting me pet it! And then it's friend came over and I just hung out and pet them for a while, they were so friendly and cute! So I got some awesome pictures and videos with them and then finished my run. That was a really cool fun experience though and definitely goes down as one of my favorites, running takes you on some cool adventures over the years. I think trying to come back so fast after my mission coupled with the really intense training program at suu kind of burned me out along with the frustration of injuries, which I'm pretty sure are all healed. So I'm on a good fresh new start with my running, and I've been doing strength training so I'm bulking up a bit. But that will help with Spartan race and I like lifting and being strong, and I like running fast, so I'll just find a good balance that I enjoy and get better at both! My primary focus of exercise is on enjoyment and health, not competition anymore, but that's no gonna stop me from trying to knock off some pros at spartan at the end of July. I'm feeling strong and fast this week and I'm relatively out of shape compared to where I plan on being in 10 weeks, so those spartan guys better watch out! |