Runfessions, Anyone?

Well, here we are again.

Back at the 'Fessional, with plenty of runfessions to share. I'm not sure how it's already that time of the month again. Seems like I was just doing the runfession routine...like yesterday.

 Anyways, here goes! May I present my July 2024 contribution to the ‘Fessional…

So, this week has seen the state of Iowa celebrating the 51st RAGBRAI. You may recall I first rode in this annual bike ride in 2021 (recap HERE), riding Day-1. I was totally smitten, and went back in 2022 and rode Day-7 (you'll find that recap HERE). Last year, I rode the 4th, 5th and 7th days (and that recap is HERE). Well, this year's route is in the very southern part of the state, making the logistics pretty challenging if you're only wanting to ride a single day. Trust me, it's a major production coordinating transportation to and from each day's "starting" and "ending" towns. Thus, I decided to take a pass this year. But, I runfess that I opted to do a #virtualRAGBRAI of sorts, on Monday after work. Monday's "jersey theme" (for the official riders) was was Hometown Pride, so I wore my jersey from my hometown's bike shop in Cresco, IA (the town where I was born and raised, until my family moved to Grinnell for my last two years of high school). 

Virtual RAGBRAI...sort of...

My sweet little dog, Max, can be quite the charmer. He can also be a little stinker. Just last week, I pulled the car into the garage, and didn't hear his usual barking upon my arrival. He didn't come to the door when I entered the house either. After calling his name a few times, I heard the faint jingle of his dog tags...coming from upstairs. As he sheepishly descended the steps, I noticed one of the panels on the baby gate had been slid over, just far enough to allow him passage through. I'll runfess it here and now, he's lucky to be such a little cutie. Coincidentally (?), this adorable pic of him and Pablo popped up in my Facebook memories this week.

this pic  makes me smile

Each week, Deb and I do a virtual run/walk/ride together. These happen in the wee hours (5:30 AM for her/4:30AM for me), so I'm usually sporting my Noxgear vest and have my Knuckle Lights in tow.  Ummm, let me runfess, that just recently, I didn't realize I'd never turned my vest on until after I'd gotten home. BTW, that was after several failed selfie attempts, LOL. At least my trusty Knuckle Lights were dutifully lighting my path for me.

the vest may be on, but no lights are aglow...

This month’s full moon occurred Sunday evening. I’d had a busy day of hot and humid cycling, as well as some evening walking, so I was feeling a bit famished. It wasn’t until I was getting ready for bed, around 10:30, that I noticed the moon and remembered my monthly full moon running ritual (#oops #FacePalm). I runfess that I grabbed my running gear, but a split second later decided to defer the run to Monday evening instead. I rationalized the moon would be almost as full and those extra 24 hours would give my phantom “injuries” more recovery time. How’s that for a win-win!

...and there it is, at about 11:00PM!

Finally, have I mentioned how much I’m loving the trail by my house? Recently, I’ve been doing a 15-mile out & back jaunt, on repeat. It takes around 70-72 minutes (depending on the wind), so the time commitment isn’t too grandiose. I runfess, I’m kind of preferring that to walking because the “riding breeze” feels nice, especially on those hot summer days. 

on the Chichaqua Valley Trail

Well, it feels nice to have those runfessions done and in print. Rather liberating!

Surely I'm not the only one...do you have any runfessions that you may need to absolve?

 I'm  linking this with Marcia for the monthly Runfessions link-up

I'm also linking this with Michelle, Renee, Darlene, Jenn and Zenaida for the Fit Five Friday Link-up.

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