Picture this: Sunday morning, and it's our first day together as a family in weeks. Ryan usually has his days off during the week so we rarely get a day for all 3 of us to be together. So, what do we do? We decide to make the most of it! The morning begins when our happy baby wakes up cooing is his bed at about 6:00-ish (he probably would have slept a little longer if he hadn't pooped). 6:00 is fine because it's later than I usually get to sleep so it felt like sleeping in. We change a diaper, play in mommy and daddy's bed for a bit and then Abbott decides he is tired again....goes back to sleep until 8:45. Thus begins the real day. We get up and make some waffles....not Eggos...real waffles from scratch with the waffle maker. While doing breakfast, Jeff and Sarah call and ask if we want to hang out a bit during the day and we invite them on our planned walk in Shelby Park after breakfast. The excitement mounts: it's a happy day, it's a sunny day, and the morning air feels great! By the time we actually get to Shelby Park, it's about 11:00 and we really have no idea where we're going. We find the new Nature Center, which is closed, but behind it begin many walking/hiking/biking trails. Let's explore one together....great idea right? Abbott's in his stroller snoozing and we all just had breakfast so no biggie. After deciding to try and find the new walking bridge, we head out on our trail. The sun is nice...not too hot and the pathway is very shaded so it's a nice walk.....but at about mile marker 1.5 (there are markers every half mile), I start to wonder how long this trail really is. At mile marker 2.5 we stop and break. None of us have water bottles or thought to drink any water before we left. None of us have put on any sunscreen. None of us thought the path would be THIS LONG. As I am feeding Abbott his bottle, we have to make a decision: keep going or turn back? Since, I onlt have one bottle for Abbott and the sun is really starting to warm up now, I decide to head back and Sarah joins me. Ryan and Jeff continue on to find the bridge, which turns out is only .7 miles ahead. On our way back, the path sure seems to be less shaded now......maybe that's because the sun is directly over us at this point and we've now entered the hottest part of the day. Abbott starts to get fussy because he's hot and he can't fall asleep.....Sarah and I have to stop at almost every shady spot to let him cool off. Ryan and Jeff catch up with us and we continue back. That first 2.5 miles didn't seem too bad, but the last 2.5 on the way back seemed to never end.
Lessons learned:
1. That trail is much longer than you think.
2. Bring water next time.
3. Start much earlier in the day
4. Wear sunscreen....even if you don't think you'll be out very long.
It's funny how the night before this, I was watching the Olympics and the women's marathon was on. I was so impressed by the leader, she was from Romania, I think. And so here I am in the hot Tennessee sun walking for what feels like an eternity. Did you know that a marathon is more than 26 miles? I only walked 5 yesterday and felt like a noodle when I was done. I couldn't imagine RUNNING for more than 26 miles. The winner of the marathon RAN it in 2 hours and 20 minutes or so. We WALKED 5 miles in about 2 hours. I think maybe we should all try out for the Olympic marathon team in 2012....anyone up for it? It wouldn't be that much training......
3 comments:
I'm up for it! At least in my mind I am.
Have a good day.
You run it and tell me how it goes! Another lesson learned- take the camera everywhere you go so you can have cute pictures of Abbott on his strolls!
Whew! What a day. I'll bet Abbott rested well when he got home. In fact, I'll bet ALL of you rested well when you got home. Love you, Aunt Lissa
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