It's a beautiful day in the CLE-borhood

I'm not sure whether it's because it hasn't rained EVERY single day this week, or because it's just getting warmer in general, or because I've been reading other Cleveland blogs via Twitter and the Ohio Blogging Association ... but I'm lovin' on Cleveland lately!

I wanted to give a special shout out to CLEgal. Her blog, Why? CLE, is a great read, and explains why people keep coming back to Cleveland and what it has to offer. I've agreed to take the 31-day challenge for the month of May (albeit, a little late), where I post a new thing I enjoy about Cleveland every day for 31 days.

I started today, and I posted: Reason #1: Waking up thinking it's going to rain, and then it turns into a beautiful sunny day. I'm not sure if I just thought it was going to rain today because it was cloudy, or if I just got up too early to see any shadows (LOL), but now the sun is out, and even though it's not exactly bright, it made me happy.

Related to the nicer weather and the sun? More time for running! Last week I ran twice and was so happy about it. I "re-discovered" this one part of the Towpath Trail that I'd only run on once before. Instead of getting on at Harvard/Jennings (near Steelyard Commons), you go East on Harvard a little bit until East 49th street, then make a right and about a mile down the road is a park, visitor center (with fountains -- important!), baseball field, and plenty of paths.

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If you take the path down a huge hill (which, duh, felt much better on the way out then on the way back), you'll pass another visitor center, and then eventually reach the main Towpath trail just past the 7-mile marker on the trail (sorta near where that set of bathrooms are, before the train overpass). So I ran from 49th street park down to that mile marker and back. I didn't use a Garmin or anything, but based on the time (40 or so minutes), I think I went about 3 or 3.25 miles. It was a great workout.

Then, the next day, I went to a similar location, but this was technically the Washington Reservation (even though it was only a mile or so away from the other one. You can take Harvard to get here too, but I took 77 South to Fleet, and then made a left and it was right there. This path kinda goes in a million different directions. I ended up running on Washington Place (I think that's the name of the street), looking at really nice houses. Then I ran back and found some really nice paths surrounding that golf course over there. I was really tired, so I didn't run as long (only 30 minutes), but this is a place I'd like to come back and explore soon.

Today, I'm going to yoga at Inner Bliss in Rocky River! For the first time in ... forever! I think it's been almost a year and a half since I've done any "real" yoga practice. I did prenatal for a few months, which was great, but it was very very mellow (necessary for me!), and I'm ready to start getting back into the swing of things.