Rollin' with the homies

First off, 

After a tough fall, winter, and spring, to say I've been looking forward to this summer would be a major understatement.  Brynn has only eight days left as a first grader, and despite the challenges I know will arise having both girls home 24/7, I'm looking forward to spending more time with my two little ladies.  

Camryn finished school two weeks ago (already!), but for the sake of my sanity and her safety, I put her in a camp at her preschool this week.  I've been super productive with my kidless time the past two mornings, and I feel like I've done a pretty decent job balancing work and play during the three short hours Camryn is in camp.  

After three successful outings last week, my run/walk program called for an increase in the running interval this week.  I'm up to two whole minutes of running, followed by 30 seconds of walking.  Look out!!!  Monday's session lasted 22 minutes, and only 4.5 of them were spent walking.  My average pace, including the walking, was 10:19 min/mile.  I can be ok with that as long as I'm pain free.  Speed will come.

My friend Jennie also invited me to roller blade around the lake where she lives (the same blasted lake where my bike was stolen last month), and I couldn't pass it up.  See?!?!  I told you I'm bringing blading back!!!  Jennie had her double jogger and I was kid-free, making it a much easier skate for me than it was for her.  Having already done P90X3 and running, I figured my third workout of the day could stand to be a little easier!  My fourth workout of the day was speed shopping through Walmart before having to pick Camryn up from camp...much quicker to get through it without her than with her!

Today was a self-imposed tough day.  My sweat box session with Ryan and Tony included 234 push-ups and 126 pull-ups, followed by 7.2 miles in 32:36 on the roller blades at the oceanfront.  That was my fastest average pace in recorded history, but I have yet to top my fastest mile of 4:17...there's always next time.  What's a little disappointing with the rollerblading is that the calories burned is way lower than it would be if I had run the same distance.  For example, on a 7 mile run, I would burn upwards of 600 calories.  A 7 mile skate only knocked off 134.  Boo.  And I'm a little nervous that I may be getting addicted to having both music and the Map My Run app for these runs and skates.  Might need to check myself before I wreck myself and go silent my next time out.  

I have really been enjoying my time skating at the oceanfront these past few weeks.  Just like when I would run the boardwalk, there is something so energizing about being a few feet from the ocean and having the wind and salty air in your face.  And just like the song says, sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy (even when covered in SPF 30...this skin ain't getting any younger!).  

Sun's out, guns out.  And so are the tourists.  Many who feel the boardwalk was built just for them:

But then there was this couple, who were watching the surfers down by the jetty:

So, so cute.  I rarely get to see any good stuff like this on my solo runs through my neighborhood, and it's been really great to have a little human interaction when I'm out there doing my thing.  The return-to-sport phase of this injury process has shed light on a new goal of mine for running (and maybe even life in general) in 2014:

I'm certain it will be challenging for this life-long introvert, but I know it will be worth the effort.