Multitasking

 The company that I work for throws us a summer party each year

Yeah, my workplace is pretty awesome

When I heard that this year's would be a picnic and was told where it was going to be held, I was pretty stoked. I know Laurel Creek Conservation Area fairly well, and my excitement for the whole thing only increased when I got my bike back from critical repairs last week. 

Now I could have fun on the way to and from the picnic, too!

I rode up to the office yesterday morning and entrusted my steed to the parking garage behind the office (which carries a $15/day charge, so I'm unlikely to cease taking transit as my usual way to get there), worked until 3-ish, then set off for the park.

Fortunately no-one seemed to have fussed with my ride while I was in the office

Despite some construction-related road closures, a light sprinkle of rain, and the gravel-strewn driveways in the park, I arrived safely for the picnic around quarter to four. 

Yes, the rain fell out of sunny skies. Just my luck!

I did hang out and chat with my coworkers for the actual event  - which was scheduled for 3-7pm - taking part in the big group photo, and having a burger from the grill (because the committee that plans the events specifically checked in with me to make sure my food allergies would be accommodated).

Right down to sending me an ingredient list to confirm, and serving the allergen-free food first
(there were also veggie burgers and halal burgers to accommodate other people's needs, too)

I took part in the the team challenge: we broke into 8 groups, then took on a few interesting tasks like assembling small items, completing a small jigsaw puzzle, guessing a list of terms that relate to our company's products, and - last but certainly not least - trying to thaw a t-shirt that had been frozen in a lump in a plastic bag enough to get it on one of our team members! Thanks to the knowledge and competitive spirit of my teammates, our group took first place overall - way to go Running Buffers! Our prize was first whack at the piñata.

..which turned out to be surprisingly resilient.

When it was finally persuaded to give up its contents, it was nearly 7pm. While a lot of people were still playing lawn games - cornhole, ringers, monkeybones, and spikeball were all on offer, though there were unfortunately no suitable trees for me to set up the slackline I'd brought along - I had other plans.

The trails are calling, and I must go.

I'm not sure what it says about me that, when faced with the option of either playing fun games with coworkers (whom I actually like - it's a fun company to work for, and the culture is pretty great) or blasting off on my own to get eaten by mosquitoes, you'll see me loading up on bug spray almost 100% of the time.

I mean, it's probably to everyone else's benefit - they don't have to put up with me!

It's a wonderful place to run - with a number of campsites around the park, there are toilets and water taps at multiple points easily accessible from the trails - and a decent variety of groomed and less-structured bits.

Narrower path from the boat launch

Lookout over the far end of the lake from the picnic shelter

The wind began to gust and the clouds moved in, making me wonder if the few drops of rain I'd had on the way up to the park would bring reinforcements.

Boardwalk over a marshy area

A little bit of everything, really

I was in no big rush - still rather full of burger (with no interest in seeing it again), it took me about 45mins to ramble around the 4-ish miles of trails I could do without having to go for multiple loops or retracing my steps much.

..while also mostly avoiding the park roads.

By the time I got back, there were only a handful of people left, but at least my bags - one of which contained my work laptop, another of which had my slackline and leathers - hadn't been left unattended. I had a quick post-run snack and bade the last people goodbye, left to myself to get changed back into street clothes from my run kit.

No-one showed the least surprise that I'd bailed to go run

I actually ended up catching a few minutes of rain while I rode home, which wasn't particularly enjoyable - I probably could have avoided it had I not gone for a trot around the park.

..but what fun would that have been?

I still made it home safely - even managed to ride out of the rain, and the wind from the last few miles before home dried out my leathers nicely - so while it may not have been a perfect day, it was still a pretty heckin' good one.