Rio is 3 miles from my house via the street and it is 4 miles via the bike path. The bike path is generally quite sunny with not much shade so I thought the streets would be better. Dumb dumb. The heat from the pavement combined with the scorching sun searing my brain and the fact that I had just left work did not bode well for a good run.
American River Drive is a very residential area. I found it odd there was a little man selling the ripest strawberries ever on the side of the road. I wanted to stop and take his picture but the smell of the berries (in that heat) was nauseating.
I arrived at Rio and there was no sign of Pigeon. I did tell her that I was leaving my house at 5:00 pm and that it would take me a bit to get there. I really left at 4:45 (because my timing skills are not so good) and ended up waiting in the heat for her for about 15 minutes. My water bottle which was about 3/4 ice was now a melted watery (yet luckily still cold) mess.
Pigeon arrived and we immediately headed towards the bike trail. As we crested the levee ready to descend down the other side my eye immediately went to this sight in the sky:
I stopped and said "Hey, look at that cloud! That's a weird shape!" In my head I was thinking "shark" or "dolphin" . . . I did realize it was a slightly phallic looking cloud but that isn't immediately where my mind went . . . until Pigeon said "THAT's what you're thinking it looks like!?" Either way, that phallic looking cloud was in the direction we were headed and provided a good bout of entertainment for the first few miles.
A mile into the run, the heat hit us both like a ton of bricks. Oh did I mention it was about 6 pm and 100+ degrees outside? Yup. Scorching and as you can see above, no shade on the bike trail. Pigeon was really feeling the heat (she had worked a 10 hour day) and we made the quick decision to do four together instead of five and I made the even quicker decision that instead of running four more home like I had planned (which would have put me at 11 for the day) that Pigeon would be driving my sweaty tired butt back to my house. Thanks Pigeon!
The two miles back involved a lot of walking which really hit Pigeon's mental game hard. At the start of our run, I could tell she was/is ready for Saturday. She was positive and happy but by the end of our run, those negative demons started entering her head and messing with her mind. I tried my best to steer her mind set in a different direction but the heat was doing a better job than I was I think.
Either way, we finally made it back to Rio and hopped into the car and blasted the AC. Pigeon drove me home (and I introduced her to a new area of Sacramento I think).
When I got home I tried to keep up my new strength training routine and did a few squats and some arms/abs (after I was attacked by the Peanut of course).
Today I am leaving work early and meeting up with Vans and our realtor to see a few more homes and to potentially put in an offer on a home that has caught our eye. As much as I want a new home (desperately) it saddens me that my running route is going to change and that the possibility of meeting Pigeon at Rio for runs might not even happen if we move. Never say never though right? It's a squirrely market out there and who knows what will happen.
Whenever I go and meet Pigeon for a run . . . Vans takes the Peanut out for a bike ride.
Anyone for a ride in the rickshaw?
Your little girl is so cute! I have a 20 month old daughter and she is so entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an intense run! I couldn't imagine going in that heat. At least you had a friend and a funny cloud to help ease it along a bit.