Running just as fast as we can, redux

For those of you who read with any regularity, you know that in June, J and I resolved to run a 5K. If you don't remember, you can read about it here. We used the Couch to 5K plan, though we weren't quite as regular in our workouts as the plan would suggest. Regardless, despite setbacks and occasionally falling off the workout wagon, we did finish our 5K this weekend!

Since we weren't consistent in our workouts, we hadn't built up to running the entire event, but we did run over half of it in a jog-walk-jog-walk-jog fashion. In addition, we finished in 46 minutes (well, I finished in 46:00; J finished in 45:59), and I was happy with the 15 minute mile splits for a first attempt. (Can you imagine if I'd turned in that kind of time in high school? I'd have been booted from the cross country team in a heartbeat!!)

Anyhow, our next goal is to run an entire 5K, and to do so in 40 minutes. We'll be continuing with the Couch to 5K plan, picking up where we left off to keep working toward running the entire thing. We're looking at the Black Cat Chase in Frankfort on October 30 to meet that goal. Stay tuned, and keep us accountable!

Title: I think we're alone now, by Tiffany

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

I've been a little down this week, and I'm guessing that it has more to do with the fact that I haven't run in a week and a half than with anything else. (Though it could be the lack of comments on my last post, I dunno...)

In an attempt to break the funk yesterday, I ran by a flower wholesaler after work and purchased half a dozen sunflowers. They did cheer me up a bit, but I decided that they just didn't fill up the base I put them in so this afternoon, I dropped in for more flowers and some filler, too. One dozen sunflowers, tree fern and some berries that I didn't catch the name of made for a fabulous arrangement, and it looks great in my tree vase.

I'm still not sure what caused the funk, but finding a way to be creative and work with my hands has certainly lifted the gloom. I'm pretty sure J won't mind the cost in exchange for a happier wife!

Title: My Favorite Things, from The Sound of Music

Just a fine and fancy ramble to the zoo

After a long July (hereafter known as the month of Adventuring Alone), J and I were happy to kick off August with an adventure together on Saturday.

While in Louisville attending a seminar on Project Citizen a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Louisville Zoo and saw their Sky Trail High Adventure Course. We were too busy that day to try it out, but I was intrigued. Later that week, I received a coupon for the Louisville Mega Cavern, a new tour operation of a former limestone mine beneath Louisville. Because they are conveniently located just a couple of minutes from each other, I convinced J that we should visit both before moving on to the Low Country Boil and Birthday Parties that we were scheduled to vist last night. J, who has personal experience with my fear of not being in control (sometimes mistaken for a fear of heights), jumped at the challenge to see me in action on the Sky Trail.


I don't have any pictures of me on the course, but here are a couple of J (he was taking my picture with his cell phone and we haven't uploaded those yet). I did have one brief moment of fear before stepping onto the first challenge component, but that diminished as I learned to trust the harness, ropes and steel structure! We had a great time and spent about 45 minutes navigating the course. I would highly recommend the Sky Trail to anyone looking for a fun adventure. You do have to pay twice (once to get into the zoo and again to get on the Sky Trail), so plan to stay for a couple of hours to enjoy the zoo, as well!

After a quick jog through the zoo (because we'd paid for it and I didn't want to let it go to waste!), J and I zipped over to the Mega Cavern. Tours there last about an hour and 15 minutes and leave every 30 minutes, so the wait is never too long. The Mega Cavern that started as a limestone mine is now the largest office building in the state of Kentucky (at 4 million square feet) and houses all of Kentucky's back-up salt for the winter; document storage facilities; RV, boat and antique car storage; MGM storage of original movie reels (including The Wizard of Oz") and many other businesses that benefit from the steady underground temperature of 58 degrees. Along the tour, we also saw a mock-up of the fallout shelter that was housed there during the Cold War (50,000 Louisvillians were invited to stay in this largest fallout shelter in Kentucky in the event of nuclear war) and an earthworm farm. Because the tour is conducted on trailers towed behind a jeep (they call it a tram, but I've been on enough hayrides to recognize the technology when I see it), all ages can enjoy the tour, and we saw several families on the tour.









In all, we had a great day and enjoyed our adventure to kick off the month. I'm afraid that I'm looking at a busy autumn work-wise, so I'm not sure how exciting the blog is going to be for our readers, but please check in periodically. I'll try to keep you all up to speed on our activities here at the Melton Point!

Title: At the Zoo, by Simon and Garfunkel