Last Friday, my daughter and I drove to Harrisonburg to visit JMU. Before we left, I went to the YMCA to do a weight workout and use the elliptical machine. When traveling, it isn’t hard to work out, but it isn’t always possible to do weights, so I wanted to get them in before we left.
Saturday morning I got up to run. Unfortunately, the hotel where I was staying was a bit of a drive from the center of town and there were no sidewalks. (Yes, I have been known to pick a hotel for how the running will be in its proximity.) I drove near to JMU’s campus and began running. During my run I was able to check out the location of the open house that we would be attending later that morning, and find out where I was going to park. It was a good run on JMU’s hilly campus!!
On Saturday afternoon, I stopped in a running store to ask where I might go for a longer run the next day. Running and biking stores are great for getting this type of information. If you ask at the hotel desk, they may not understand that you want to run more than a couple of miles. Finding locals that run or bike is your best bet. So, Sunday morning I parked the car at a park that had a 1½ mile cinder trail meandering through it. At the suggestion of the running store owner, I ran around this circuit, then onto the campus of JMU for several miles, then ran back and did the trail again. Total run-eight miles. It was a pretty run with a few colorful leaves still on the trees and would have been even better if it wasn’t 45 degrees and raining. (More on exercising and the weather next time.)
Monday morning — back in Alexandria and a weight workout at the YMCA and 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.
Tuesday morning — I ran seven miles and was able to run most of it on the bike path as it is light again, at least for the next few weeks. Once it gets dark again, I’ll be back to running in Del Ray and Old Town where there are more lights and people around in the early morning.
