Weekly Mileage #64

this stream crossing was a lot higher and faster than last time we were here

Last week was my best exercise week of the year. I exercised 6 days in a row! I don't remember the last time I managed that, but it sure felt good. Ok, there was some sore muscles, but it still felt good. Let's see if I can repeat it this week and next, and the following weeks as well....

they went right for the rocks

There was nothing special about my workouts Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but the next three were more interesting.

big splashes from the boys

love his optimism!

I managed two hikes this week, which needs to happen a lot more often if we're going to get to 52 by the end of the year. Mr M's brother was visiting, so Mr M took a couple days off work, and they were able to come with the kiddos and I on our first hike. This is a hike we've done before (here, here, and here), but this was definitely the best weather.

Mr M demonstrated proper rock skipping technique, but the boys ignored his lessons

A black bear crossed the road in front of us a few miles before we got to the trailhead, but it disappeared into the underbrush next to the road by the time we got to the spot. It's been a few years since we saw a bear, so that was exciting.

trying to catch a crayfish we saw walking on the bottom

When we got to the swimming hole, we saw minnows and small fish in the water, but they didn't hang around once the kiddos started trying to skip rocks. Or just throwing the rocks, in the case of the boys. We found a couple crayfish under rocks, which was interesting. The water was a bit too cold for swimming, but we had fun splashing around.

it was a one-clawed crayfish (we put it back in the water)

Sunshine was brave enough to hold it, but the boys wouldn't touch it- this was the second crayfish we caught- it had two claws

Friday the boys and I went on another hike while Mr M, his brother, and Sunshine did some sightseeing. We've been to this trail before, and I thought we'd head up into the hills on a dirt trail, but River wanted to go on the "bridges"- the boardwalk bridges that make up about a third of the trail that  winds up the mountain to Monticello. He wanted to keep going, but I thought it was best to turn around while the going was still good, which was smart, since Ocean had some meltdowns on the way down and had to be carried part of the way back- he was done.

not a part of the boardwalk trail, but still pretty

he's getting so grown up

We stopped to climb on the giant tree trunk for a few minutes. Ocean was proud of himself for being able to climb up just as high as River did.

Saturday C and I were able to go running again. We went at 6:30 am, and the temps were gloriously, unexpectedly cool. Perfect for running. It was still humid enough that we got pretty sweaty, but at least we weren't dying from the heat.

so peaceful- no traffic other than a couple bicyclists

I spent a couple hours later in the day building a door for the chicken run, which meant lots of walking back and forth between the chicken run and the garden shed, where the saw was. I thought about putting my Garmin on, but decided not to, so I don't know how far I walked, but I'm sure it was at least a mile or two, though I'm not counting them towards my total.

When I built the chicken run last year, I left an opening for a door, but I'd run out of wood for the actual door. I stretched fencing across the opening and promptly put finishing the door on the back burner. My neighbor has her remaining chickens in our coop (her free ranged flock has been decimated by foxes this year) and we decided it was past time to make that one weak spot stronger. It was nice to work with my hands and sweat, but it was hot enough that I was definitely ready to quit by the time I finished the door. I didn't actually finish it yet- I need to buy hinges, a latch, and handles and install them, and then I'll be done. In the meantime, the door is screwed into the door frame and securely in place.

you can see the wire fencing in the doorway in this pic from when I finished the chicken coop trim

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 10.00 miles on the bike
Tuesday- 1.75 miles on the treadmill
Wednesday- 10.00 miles on the bike
Thursday- 2.31 miles hiked
Friday- 2.83 miles hiked
Saturday- 4.11 miles walked and run outside
    total- 31.00 miles

7 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
1.10 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

90.78 foot miles towards #365milechallenge
160.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
251.88 miles total