7 Miler While Camping in WI

Friday through Sunday I was camping with the in-laws near Sparta, WI (near Amish country). Saturday, we went canoeing down the Kickapoo River, which is hailed as “the windiest river in the world.” Doubt it, but whatever. ("Kickapoo" is Algonquin for "one who goes here, then there," and that's about right for describing the river...)

Saturday morning, before hitting the river, Pharmie’s uncle John and I went for a 7 miler. (John recently ran a sub-1:35 half marathon, and he’s hoping to get under 1:30 at the end of the summer.) I had forgot to pack a good pre-run breakfast, so I had a FruitaBu roll-up and a granola bar:

John told me that I COULD NOT RUN WITH A WATCH! He wanted me to push him to a hard run, but he wanted me to just “feel it out,” have a “fun run,” and not be concerned with my splits. We ended up mapping out a 7 mile route, John let me wear my watch AND take mile splits, but I couldn’t look at it while I was running - I could just check my splits after the run.

We went out at a pretty good pace. For the first 3.5 miles, we were pretty chatty. I was probably going at about 85-90% of “all out” pace. After we turned around and started heading back to the campsite, John started talking less - he was pushing himself to a good run. Just before mile 5, he said he was going to ease up at mile 5 and cool down for the last 2 miles. I had worked him hard, and he was done. He told me to finish out the run, and he’d be not far behind. I finished 7 hilly, hot, Wisconsin miles in 51:01 (7:17 pace with a negative split), and John was just a few minutes back.

Here we are at the campsite after our run. John didn’t pee himself; that’s all sweat:

Our work was done; it was time to spend the afternoon canoeing down the Kickapoo River! We canoed for about an hour before stopping at the first of many sandbars. Across the river from the sandbar was a rocky ledge with a lot of plants growing on it. A few of us ventured up it so we could jump off. Here I go:

I jumped hand-in-hand with a few of Pharmie’s cousins too:

Fun times on the Kickapoo! Here’s our entire gang after getting off the river (I’m in the yellow visor in the back):

Back at the camp grounds, we had a good time in the pool:

That’s harder than it looks!

It was a fun way to spend the weekend! Now, I’m off to a “CVA Triathlon Club” workout, and then maybe another workout before having to teach.