Because I'm finally back to running....and my sister is training for the same event...we decided to get together Sunday morning to do our "long" run.
We met in downtown Omaha, along the river. The plan was to run across the new pedestrian bridge, and along the trails on the Iowa side of the river.
A view, from the parking lot we met in, of the sun coming up over the river.
I think the bottom of the bridge looks like a roll of film. :-)
Our warm up consisted of us walking the .25 miles from our car to the bridge.
And maybe a little photographic break here and there along the way. :-)
Because of the flooding Missouri River, the water table is extremely high. And, because of this, storm sewer systems in downtown Omaha have....well...they've not been functioning the best they could.
Anyway, this is the city's only way to cope. They put a series of pipes above ground, that run to a new spillway, and then directly to the river.
And, because of the location of these new pipes, they had to pour new sidewalks so the trail could go up and over them.
Take a close look. Those statues just to the right of the building with the red roof. Yeah, those usually aren't in the water at all. Not even close.
A little bike rack art along the way.
I think this looks like a smiling pumpkin. My sister thinks I'm nuts! :-)
So, we finally made it to the bridge, and started off on our 6 mile run.
The Missouri River serves at the border between Nebraska and Iowa.
Just as we got to the beginning of the bridge, we see a sign that says the trail on the Iowa side is closed.
Well duh! I knew that....but we'd forgotten. This flood has been going on for so long, we're all getting kinda used to it.
(You should see the pictures of the interstate, as the flood waters are receding! They won't be functioning for at least a year, if not more. The power of the river is amazing!!!)
This is usually dry ground.
If you click on this picture to make it bigger....you will see the top of a stack of concrete tubes. (the are in the reflection of the buildings in the water)
They are not usually under water.
The scale of this flood is grand.
So....because the trail was closed on the other side.....we ran across the bridge to the end, then back into Nebraska.
From there, we just ran through the streets of downtown Omaha.
There are bronze statues all over down town...so we had to stop here and there for pics.
"You're such a good doggy. How about a scratch behind the ears??"
Then, we finished our run by going across the bridge and back one final time.
She really wasn't as exhausted as she looks in this pic.
I said "look tired". She then said something that got me laughing...but I forget what.
The run was great!!! My legs didn't hurt at all. Not one little bit. It was really nice! Plus, running through the streets of Omaha, early on a Sunday morning, was fun. Less traffic, fewer people. The temperature was great.
We'll be doing 7 miles this coming weekend. Can't wait to see where we end up this time!!! :-)
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6 miles, 1:16:05, 12:40 overall average pace (running her 1:1 intervals), 687 calories, Max HR 184, Avg HR 164
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