Running in Raleigh

It was a long, but fun, weekend. We didn't land in Raleigh until just before 2:00am Friday morning and got back to our apartment Sunday night after 10:00pm. In between there was a lot of driving (I have not been in a car that much in the past 4 months combined), sight-seeing, delicious food and a bit of running, too!


Before we left on the trip I reached out to a few running shops to ask for advice on where to run. Michael from Fleet Feet in Raleigh sent me a long email with great suggestions of neighborhoods and a few restaurant suggestions for post-run refueling!


While we opted to sleep Friday morning, we laced up both Saturday and Sunday morning, checking out different parts of the city. We weren't staying downtown, but the area is really easy to get around so Saturday morning that's where we went. We had driven around the area a little bit Friday morning but didn't explore the Historic Oakwood area, one of Michael's suggestions. We wanted our run to do double duty - explore the city and get in some exercise. We had no real plan of where to go, just a downtown map and some water (it was really warm already at 8am) and set out. The area quickly went from government buildings to older houses and lots of hills! We just ran up and down streets, hit quite a few dead ends, and then made our way back to the car after about 40 minutes. Our legs were pretty tight and the hills were a little tough, but it was a great, sweaty workout and just what we needed to start the day. 


We parked near Morning Times, a little coffee shop Michael suggested, and got ice cold coffee. The place was packed (which isn't hard, but people also spilled out onto the sidewalk) and there were a few other runners so we weren't the only sweaty ones in the place! The iced coffee was delicious and hit the spot.

Sunday morning we decided to do something different. There is a great Greenway Trail System of trails throughout the area - over 62miles of paved and dirt trails for running, biking, walking and exploring. Some are in the middle of town, others through wooded areas, some seem to weave in and out of neighborhoods. It seemed pretty fantastic and we wanted to try out one of the paths so we headed to Shelley Lake, not all that far from our hotel. This was completely different from the morning before. The path was shorter than we thought, so we did a couple laps of the lake, but it was beautiful and peaceful. There were quite a few others out enjoying the morning, but not so many that it was overwhelming. There was even a yoga class on the hill! This run was a great way to start our last day in Raleigh.

In case you didn't know this already, I love exploring new places by running!

• I'm a day late, so how was your weekend?
• How excited are you for the 4th of July weekend?

************

Saturday's workout -

~40min run

stretching

Sunday's workout -

~40min run

stretching

Monday's workout -

35min elliptical

2x20 leg press

2x14 leg curl

2x17 leg extension

100 crunches

1x35sec plank

2x20 hip raise

stretching

Today's workout -

35min elliptical
150 crunches
1x35sec plank
2x20 cable push-down
2x18 wood chop with resistance band
monster walks
stretching
monster walks