Vacation & a 10K PR

I seemed to have fallen into a black hole lately. After vacation, I have found it difficult to find time for everything. Anyways, I am still out here and still running.

Vacation was wonderful. Having eleven days away from work was refreshing. I did however find myself overindulging in food and drink a bit too much. The fun thing is that there are a group of friends that take vacation the same week that have summer places by us so we have the option to do things with friends if we want. I did run on vacation, just not the miles I probably should have. I did find a 10k race on the morning of the fourth of July. It was a great way to kick off Independence Day. My last 10K back in April, I managed a 55:41 and this time I was hauling ass (for my standards) and finished with 52:16. That is 3:25 faster than last time. I don’t know why, the course was hilly and out in the country running past corn and cows and other animals but something snapped and I broke my plateau I was stuck on. I hope this continues through my next races. Anyway I was stoked to have improved my time by that much for a 10K.

In addition to the 10K there were a few scattered runs, varying in distance, not pushing myself to hard, after all I was on vacation.

One of my trip highlights was going to New Glarus, Wisconsin to tour one of my favorite breweries, the New Glarus Brewing Company. They had just opened their new hilltop brewery, so new in fact, the varnish on the woodwork and paint on the walls still smelled wet. We walked into the brewery and immediately proceeded to get a pint to sample & walk around the brewery with. I was surprised that they gave you us a glass and let us wander around with it. The building was an impressive display of copper kettles and stainless steel pipes traversing throughout the building. Each area was open to view by a glass wall as to see the operation & each brewing process. I ended the tour with a visit to the gift shop to load up on souvenirs. Next we headed to the lower level where all the beer was. New Glarus is only sold in Wisconsin, so I tried to get a decent sampling for the rest of vacation and to share with my poker buddy’s back home.

A few days after the brewery tour, a group of us went tubing down the Wisconsin River in a town called Spring Green. Spring Green is also famous for the home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin House. We actually floated right past the house on the river. It was a real treat to see, especially if you are into architecture. There were sand bars all along the river; we stopped for lunch and then just to let the kids run around and play. A good time was had by all.

The rest of vacation was spent visiting with friends and spending time with my family and just relaxing. I often feel I need a vacation to recover from my vacation once I get back. And don’t get me started about catching up at work!