Ultra Update! Birthday Weekend and Running...Lots of Running

Well, now that the busiest month of May in my life is over, I can carry the busy-ness over to the month of June. But before I get into current news, let me backtrack and update you of the last couple of weeks.

First, it was my birthday weekend just last week.

Nothing too special went down, but I did get some great gifts from my friends. My sister got me a croquet set, my best friend gave me a lavender plant to put near the hammock in our backyard, and Peter got me this...

It is a Vinyl/CD/Cassette/Radio/Bluetooth Player. I love it so much! We never really had the availability of music in our kitchen so this is perfect!

I also made my very own birthday cake. It was a last minute decision, but that's probably why it turned out so good!

It was a grape jelly cake with peanut butter granola crumbs on top. It was magically delicious! I definitely plan on making it again and sharing the recipe with you all!

I also ran...a lot! I spent almost my entire birthday weekend running as much as I possibly could! I ran 40 miles in 4 days. It was not in the plans, but oh well! I also took advantage of the extra time off from work to go on a Memorial Day bike ride with Peter.

We did 20 miles and our butts were hurting by the end. My soreness lasted for days!!!

Anyway, since I did run so much during my long weekend, I took off on Thursday and Friday and resumed yesterday with a 13.1 mile run. It was VERY difficult for me. I went out to my normal trail route and was optimistic that the mud would not be an issue for once. It was though. :(

I decided to bite the bullet and take the detour rather than repeat the same trail route until I got the mileage I wanted. I knew that I would be greeted with a huge hill once I jumped off the trail, but I had no idea how much this hill would take out of me.

A warning sign for the hill. Does that give you an idea of how steep it is?

According to MapMyRun, it was a 9-10% elevation grade. My pace slowed to about 10 minutes to climb this mountain, but once I got to the top, I was...ok. There were plenty of hills, but nothing I wasn't used to. I was more unprepared for the sun.

The reason I LOVE the canal is because it is shaded. Not on Dam #4 Road.

I was feeling extremely dehydrated. Once I made it back to my car, I chugged my Gatorade. It made me feel sick to my stomach. My legs felt like lead and it was extremely hard for me to move. I had to rest for a while to recover. But I couldn't get in too much time...

Shortly following the run, I had my sister's bachorlette party. We went hiking up near Snyder's Landing (also on the canal) and enjoyed drinks and snacks in a cave!

It was quite the climb, but the view was worth it!

We also went down by the river and searched for seashells. :)

We enjoyed a meal at a restaurant in Shepherdstown, WV, and then joined up with the boys at a house party. Unfortunately, I did not stay long because I was extremely tired from my run and hiking on the canal with the ladies. So I called it a night very early.

Unexpectedly, I did have enough energy to run 16 miles this morning. I did not have the intention of going that far. The most I was planning was another 13 miles, but at mile 7, I decided that I could do it and therefore, I stacked on the miles. It was also a lovely day so it made it worth it.

The C&O at Falling Waters in Williamsport

Anyway, I think that is enough for you all to take in for now!

I do have a busy week coming up so I apologize again if updates are slow. Peter and I are going to be traveling to Tennessee for my sister's wedding! We will also be visiting my cousin in Virginia. So we are going to be all over the place! But I will do my best to tell you what's going on in my life!!!



What flavor birthday cake did you have for your most recent birthday? Or did you skip the cake?

Do you do multiple long runs in one weekend?