Sunday walk at WFG

Wow, it has been a long time since I went out to Waterfall Glen. This is a forest preserve off of I55 and Cass Ave. in Darien, Il. It is about a 20 minute drive to get there. It is a great place to run, bike, hike, walk or do what ever it is you want to do. The path is crushed limestone and the total loop is just about 9 miles with some hills. This is not a flat loop. I ran it a lot when I was training for the half marathon.

I went with Chief today. He usually runs there once a week. With the injury I am suppose to stay on flat surfaces but I felt that since I have been walking everyday for almost a month it was time to give this a try. We decided to go separate directions and I would do a 45 minute walk out and back for a total of 90 minutes.

So, I head out and felt really good. I got pass the 2 mile marker and decided that I would try to run just a little bit. That really hurt but I needed to try it. At about 40 minutes in I was looking to get to the 3 mile marker by my 45 minute turn around point. I knew it was close so as time kept ticking, I decided to jog to find it as I knew it was close. After getting to the mile marker I turned around and jogged back for a few minutes. I knew that I was being stupid with the jogging so I made myself stop. It is so hard to be out there with other runners and only walk. I kept thinking that I use to be able to run to the 3 mile marker in 30 minutes and this took me 47 minutes! Yikes...well, you can't live in the past can you?

On my way back I saw two 6 point bucks. God, they were beautiful and so close! I saw blue jays, bunnies, and heard angry bull frogs. There were a ton of slugs on the trail. That was kind of gross. Chief caught up with me and I told him I would be 4 minutes late. When he was far enough a head of me I jogged some more. I completed 6 miles in 94 minutes. My best run there was 9 miles in 89 minutes. I wonder if I will ever get to run again.

On the bright side the ITB is not too bad. It stings a little but with some stretching I think I will be okay. Also, I walked hills today! There is nothing flat about WFG so I have something else to be proud of!