Ben's Cabin in da Moonlight part I

The ingredients for a great weekend

• 8 Friends
• 2 dogs
• 1 cabin on a frozen  lake
• 1 extra large pot of chili
• A whole lot of beer

Mix gently and enjoy!

This past weekend was a great mini vacation with some friends to a cabin in the middleish part of lower Michigan. We had intentions of ice fishing on the frozen lake but that just didn't happen. What did happen was a great time was had by all and I still managed to get both of my planned runs in this weekend!
Friday evening Obie and I met up with my friends Travis, Brent and his wife Caesy at their place and then we all car pooled about two and a half hours north to a small lake near Clare, Michigan. It was close to eleven by the time we got there but watching Super Troopers on the laptop during the drive made it fly by like no time at all! The four people who went up before us had been there a few hours already so it was time for us to catch up. We spent the rest of the evening playing a few drinking games, and running around on the frozen lake.

Saturday morning hit me over the head like a hammer so maybe we played more than just a few drinking games. After a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast and some sort of gravy. While everyone continued to wake up and started drinking bloody marys and beer, I started to attempt to hydrate and fuel up for my run. My one condition I made with myself before deciding to go on this trip was that I had to...absolutely had to get my runs in. While I hydrated I started reading the latest issue of Runners World which lucky for me arrived Friday afternoon. Since it was getting close to 1:00 already I knew it was now or never so I suited up and headed out the door. My friend Ben who's cabin we were at informed me that the road the cabin was on made a two mile loop around the lake so I decided I would run three laps and see if I felt like a fourth or not. When I started out I felt rather sluggish and my head was still pounding but I put myself in this position so I was going to have to deal with it. Thankfully I remembered to pack my Yak Traks! I haven't worn them too often when running close to home because the road has been mostly clear but up this two mile loop of road was covered in snow and the only "plowing" done is however much snow gets packed down when cars drive over it. One thing Ben didn't mention was that there were about three fairly decent hills on this circle of road and they definitely brought the difficulty factor of the run up a bit. The next bit of challenge came from the four dogs who were absent of any restraints that felt the need to chase me down the road when I passed their domiciles. Two were actually pretty cute, but two were anything but and I actually thought at one point I may have a problem on my hands but luckily I was worried for nothing. My phone running app wouldn't work without a cell signal apparently and I left my watch at home so I'm not sure of the time for the run but it felt like a good work out. The only thing I'm not liking is the soreness I now feel in the tendon that runs down the outside of my right ankle to my foot. I doubt it's anything serious and is just from the added stress of the uneven terrain but never the less I shall keep an eye on it.
I felt pretty good that I kept good on my word and got my workout in and could now enjoy the rest of the weekend without worrying about it.