A breath of fresh air

Will and I made our run into an "errand run."  We stopped at the store to buy cheese.  I did have an impulse buy--four oranges.

Will and I completed errand on our run again today.  We mailed my sister's birthday card at the post office.  It wasn't easy.  First off, we had to take a long detour.  The bike path we were going to go on was covered by a few inches of water as far as I could see (at least thirty yards and then the path disappeared around a bend).  On the detour, there was a stretch of road with no sidewalk.

"No big deal," I thought.  "We'll just run on this strip of nicely mowed grass."  Of course the jogging stroller did fine; it's such an all terrain vehicle.  However, I failed to mention this stretch of road is next to the woods.  I hadn't gone twenty yards when I look down and see a SNAKE!!

I screamed!  The snake was brown with dark brown diamonds and was at least an inch think!  This wasn't one of those dinky blank snakes that at first you think it’s a worm.  This was the real deal!  But it didn't seem to be lying in a coil.  I didn't hand around long enough to find out why or to notice anything else about the snake--like where its head was.  Will and I high-tailed it out of there and got off the grass.

Thankfully...

We didn't get eaten by a snake.

We didn't have to run home the way we came.

We got my sister's birthday card in the mail.

And we didn't see another snake or any other surprises during the rest of the run.

At one point during nap time, I didn't think Will's new seat could attach to my bike. But, I stuck with it and found a different place to attach the U-bracket. Is there a better feeling than deciphering directions (aren't the easy to follow pictures impossible sometimes?), using a crescent wrech or two, and seeing the finished product as it should look?

Our first bike trip was great. Will was very willing to wear his helmet. (I think seeing an Elmo's World about bikes helped. Will wanted nothing to do with the helmet when we first bought it.) We rode on the same a bike path that we usually run on. Will made his normal requests to go on the bridges and through the tunnel. We did not go through the tunnel. The path to the tunnel was still covered with a few inches of water for at least forty yards. I couldn't see beyond the bend in the bike path. Will handled the disappointment very well.

Super windy!  I thought it was going to be the toughest five miles of my life.  It wasn't.  After a while, we (Will and I ) finally got a tail wind.

Erin and I ran the seven together.  I enjoyed it.  She is fun to talk to.  We talked mostly about books.  I just finished reading The Hollow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle.  It was very fun to read, especially after finishing Jane Eyre.  I am not saying I didn't like Jane Eyre.  It's just not a fun book.  Jane Eyre did make for an excellent Book Club book.

Will wasn't so pleasant near the end.  No... he was pleasant.  It just wasn't my favorite how he kept dropping his bear.  After the second time, I told him if he dropped it again, he wouldn't be able to play with it any more.  Of course he dropped it again.  (It's always fun to watch things fall.)  And this time, the bear landed in a puddle.  I stopped to show Will how dropping his bear made the bear dirty.  I don't think he really cared--just like how he loves me even when I am sweaty, gross, and sticky.  However, Will was sad he didn't get to hold to bear for the rest of the run.

Will and his bear

Will and I ran up behind the high school.  We had a good time.  The bear stayed home today.

Last night about 8:30 pm, the water over-topped the spillway at Coralville Dam. The news reports are saying that this flood will exceed water levels experienced in the flood of 1993. During our run today, Will and I stopped to take some pictures.

The building to the right is a restaurant. The water is starting to seep through the sandbags. While I was taking this picture, a man, perhaps the owner, added a few more sandbags.

This is the Clear Creek. It connects to the Iowa River. The line of sandbags is amazing. You can see some guys working on the sandbag barricade. (This is just over a half a mile from our apartment.)

Erin and I ran on this sidewalk last Saturday during our seven mile run. And now it's covered with water.  If you look past the trees and look where the light hits the water that is where the Iowa River usually flows.

This is becoming a common site in Iowa City.  A few of the roads closer to us are expected to flood.  Right now, we are safe.  I am pretty sure our apartment will be okay.  But, the road to get to our apartment... I don't know about it.  It may be under water by the end of the week.  Time will tell.

We had three thunder storms today.  So, Will and I didn't get out in the jogging stroller.  I jumped during Will's nap.  I did five 3 minutes sets and mixed each session with normal jumping and running in place.  Between sets I had minute of rest, during which I did the plank (three times), the wall sit, and some tricep extensions.  I was pretty sweaty.

Will and I ran down behind the high school today--one of our normal, but modified routes.  It was a long five miles today.  I think my body is tired from the events of the past five days and Monday night when Will threw up five times.  I am going to go take a nap.

I did five three minute jumping rope sessions with a minute of rest in between. During the rest, three times I did the plank and the last time I did a minute of wall sit.  I also did three sets of tricep extensions.

Will and I ran behind the high school again.  Humid and hot.

Thirty minute ab work out.  Followed by thirty minutes of yoga.  (My neck was a little sore Sunday.)

Will and I ran behind the high school again.  Will started complaining during mile 3, but we made it.

I started a new running group with a couple girls (Kathryn and Rachel) from my church.  We'll be running on Tuesday nights.  Tonight's run went really well.  It was just Kathryn and me; Rachel is out of town.  I hope we can work up to at least six miles.  We talked about running four miles, but at the end of the run I was able to talk Kathryn into running one more mile.

Will and I ran the hospital running route which was flooded.

The lines on the car wash are water lines, so the water use to be about four feet high here.  This is about 200 yards from our apartment.  The median use to be grassy and green, but it's covered in mud.  The Thai restaurant's parking lot is all mud, too.

After I took this picture, I looked behind me and there was a huge dead fish.  During this stretch of run through the damaged flood area, the smell was awful.  It was a combination of dead fish and garbage smell.

Garbage got caught in goal's net.  I couldn't believe all the mud that settled in this still flooded soccer filled.  Just before Will and I got to the soccer field, I saw four different chairs that the flood waters had carried away and strewn on the softball field's fence.

Will and I biked over to our graden plot.  There's a lot of weeds.  I weeded between our fifteen green bean plants.  After the garden, we biked to the post office and then finally to the grocery store.  We probably biked six miles.  I am sore from the hills!

During nap time, I did the jump roping work out again--4 three minutes sessions with the rope alternating between running in place and normal jumping.  I haven't mastered double unders yet.  Between the first three rounds with the rope, I did the plank for a minute.  After the last round, I did the wall sit.  I finished the work out session with tricep extentions.  It's unreal how sweaty and how hard I breath!  The work out was easy this week that is was the past two weeks.

I felt extremely sluggish on my run today.  Will was a happy guy the whole time.  It felt very humid.

With Will.