Eventful Weekend: 8 Mile Run, 32 Mile Ride in New Bike, Hashing

(this is almost a week late, but better late than never :)

When I woke up at 5 am last Saturday morning, I never thought that an 8 mile long run wouldn't be the highlight of my weekend.

Long Run
The run itself went ok. I got through the 8 miles, but I had to walk a lot more than I hoped because my knee started bothering me a bit. I took it easy and stayed in the back with another runner in our group. Thank god she was there because the rest of our group completely lost us and she knew the route. We used 2:1 for the first 5 miles, then reversed it for the run back.

New Bike
After I got back from running, we went to breakfast and then to Orange Cycle to buy my new road bike. I got a Specialized Dolce Elite, pictured below, and I love it.



I only go to ride it around the block for a bit before I bought it and we dropped it off at home on our way to the hash. On Sunday morning we went for a long bike rode the entire length of the Cady Way trail (and back) with some hashers we met Saturday night. The seat seemed to be adjusted wrong, so it wasn't pleasant by the time I finished the 32 mile ride, but she handles great. See details of the ride on dailymile.


Geocaching & Hashing

After we dropped off the bike at home, we walked to the start location of our first run hash.  We did a bit of geocaching on the way, took some photos, and had lunch at Ethos Vegan Kitchen, which was excellent. The weather was so perfect and we had a blast. Hashing turned out to be a ton of fun; I just wished my knee felt better so I could have run more of it, but it didn't matter. Hashing is sort of like a farklet run (though I've never done one) but with beer/soda at the end.

The basic premise is that one person (the hare) gets a headstart and lays out a trail with flour and chalk, then the rest of the group takes off running or walking and tries to find the trail. The goal is to get to the end--where beer, soda, water, and snacks await you--and also to try to catch the hare. Once everyone gets to the end, we for a circle, sing drinking songs, and find reason for people to drink. It is great exercise and too much fun for it's own good. It'd be a great team building activity.

You can learn more about the hash group at http://www.o2h3.com/ or hashing in general at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

This weekend I plan a shorter long run and, if the weather holds out, another run hash on Saturday followed by a much needed game night. There is a bike hash on Sunday, but it is near UCF. That is a bit far for me to ride just to get to the start, so I'll have to try it in 2 weeks if the start location is more convenient.