easier run

4.2ish miles. I actually found a flatter route! It's not flat, but it had a relatively long almost flat portion. Actually, it turned out to be slightly uphill (I didn't notice); we went a bit further, turned around, and I finally felt the recovery run effort I was hoping for. My calves are pretty torn up still but I felt my quads loosening up at least.

Part of this paved path goes through a prairie restoration area. The grass was dead but tall: I'd envisioned waist-high grass but some clumps were about my husband's height.

I offered to let him choose the route tomorrow, but I've been asked to research a bit more. We are definitely learning about the area, which isn't actually our future home area (we're staying across the river and state line for the time being), but we won't be far. The area we ran in yesterday will be a great place for future weekend runs.

A good part of running is recovery; our new room is fine but both the mattress and I are too stiff. I like sleeping on hard surfaces but I need an inch or so of padding: my ideal bed was the (heated) floor and thin pad I had in Korea. Without such a pad, some of my joints sometimes get locked and I feel sore in general, especially when my muscles are already tender. Hopefully our new 1.25 inch memory foam topper will be a cloud!