Event report: 14-Miler for the 1st Annual Blogger's Healthy Heart Weekend!

As many of you probably know, Lori of the blog Finding Radiance sponsored the 1st Annual Blogger's Healthy Heart Weekend this past weekend!  It was a virtual event, in which people could create their own event, to be done over the Valentine's Day weekend.  (And of course, she offered fabulous prizes!)

Well, how could I not make that one of my Q1 2011 events?

Because weekends are a tricky time for me to schedule in exercise stuff, I wasn't entirely sure which day or what I would be doing.  My swim on Friday would have been a nice candidate, had I remembered to take pictures.  I thought of the sunset hike I'd planned with Mr. Handsome-and-Handy for our date night, but again, we both forgot our phones, so no photos.  Plus it ended up being a short and not a very heart rate-raising hike, since we were going out to dinner after.  (What? Our fellow diners would object to a little sweat?)  We did catch an amazing sunset up on Pillar Point Bluffs - we even saw the green flash!  Which is just a little bit of green light, not a huge flash, but still very cool to see.

So I knew Sunday would be my last chance.  I fueled up with some peanut flour protein waffles (Lori's recipe - which works great for pancakes OR waffles!  Mr. H&H prefers them as waffles.) and bacon and egg and coffee, and got in my grubby clothes.  D'oh!  Forgot there was a Detroit Red Wings game on TV, and I thought it would be nice to watch one with Mr. H&H for a change.   And it was nice, plus I got some knitting done, too.

And then someone wanted me to make mudpies with her.  How could I resist this?

 
You know, the great part about making mudpies is that you have the fun and creativity of cooking, but without having to eat it, or find someone else to eat it for you!

We ended up making mud soup, mud cookies out of the first failed mud cake, and that lovely item.  We also ended up blowing bubbles with Thing 1 and his friend, and I was pretty happily occupied until it was time to help Thing 1 with some homework.  Ugh.


But then, I got my chance to get out on my bike and do my event!  I decided to ride 14 miles, in honor of Valentine's Day.  I ended up riding north toward the harbor (cutting over to the coastal trail as soon as possible, there were a lot of cars on the road - which meant some slow & go in the more popular walking sections, but it was worth not having to worry as much about cars), and then back down past the state beach, then back out to the highway, down the bike trail, up the bike trail, and through town (had to walk in spots there).  I did a lap up to the high school and around the parking lots, and then headed to my neighborhood, where I had to do an extra lap to get my 14.  Whew!  It took an hour and a half to do the whole thing, but that takes into account the walking spots (had to walk a few blocks through town, plus had a massive gear shift failure going up the rather steep hill to the high school), photos, crossing the street at cross walks, and the like. 

The weather was cool and the clouds were rolling in, but it was very pleasant once I got going.  I tried out my new running gloves, and they worked nicely for keeping my hands warm on the bike.  I also sported my very bright and reflective safety vest, and it was comfortable.  When I paused on the trail for one of my photos, a very happy dog came trotting up to me, bearing a large stick.  I said, "Wow, for me?"  But no, he was just showing off.  I laughed, because it reminded me of Noah, Debby's dog, who enjoys collecting sticks longer than himself, too.

And now, the photos:

 

 Starting mileage (because I don't know how to reset the mile counter!)

 Ol' Trusty-but-not-Rusty!

 Greetings from the trail!

 Wish you were here - and I bet you do, too!

Sunset from the high school hilltop - hoo boy, I'd better get home before the streetlights come on!

 Ending mileage!

Happy and hopefully a little more heart-healthy!  Thanks, Lori!