Sunday, June 23, 2019

All I Needed

Greetings from the north woods! I'm enjoying a too-short getaway to one of my favorite places in the world, Door County, Wisconsin. I've been coming here since I was a little girl and it's always great to return to all the beauty, traditions, and memories. Even though the weather has been cool and we haven't been able to get out on the water, the sun has been shining. Sometimes sunshine and nature are all you need.



Week in Review:
Sunday: Yoga for Nurses: Yoga with Adrienne
Monday: Run 6.5 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: Run 6 miles, Five Parks Yoga: Post Workout Yoga
Thursday: rest
Friday: Run 5 miles
Saturday: Crossroads 5k Trail Run
Total miles: 21

I skipped CrossFit this week because we drove up to Wisconsin on Thursday. The box is hosting a weekly challenge; I missed the1600m sled pull! Looks like I will have some catching up to do when I get back.

There was yoga, running, and a trail race. While the forecast stated otherwise, this week, we were blessed with beautiful weather. The predicted rain never came. In Wisconsin, we were treated to some lovely sunsets.

Warrior 1 with Eagle Arms
Running continues to feel better than it has over the past couple of months. That 7.25 mile run last Saturday was not a fluke. On Monday, I ran 6.5 miles on the bike path. Keeping an eye on my pace and running with the Heart Zones monitor is helping me to go longer distances again. Wednesday, I ran to the retention pond. That run was a little tougher and I struggled to finish 6 miles on the way home.


Even though I had a trail race on the calendar for Saturday, on Friday I couldn't pass up blue skies and 60 degrees (aka perfect running conditions) and ran 5 miles along the bay. It's really hilly in Door County, and I pushed myself to run the steepest hill at the end of my run. Near breathless when I got to the top, I stopped to walk and smiled. I needed that.


I woke up early Saturday morning to get ready for our trail race and was greeted by a beautiful sunrise over the bay. My son, his girlfriend and I drove to Sturgeon Bay, a 45 minute ride, to the nature preserve where the race was being held. I'll share more about the race on my recap on Tuesday, but I'll admit here that while I enjoyed the race, running on trails is hard! I pushed myself but had to stop to walk a few times to catch my breath. Still, I was happy to place 3/25 in the women's 50-59 age group.

We each received a tree upon crossing the finish line!
This week was all I needed. Time with family, getting away, and enjoying nature made me happy. I'm looking forward to continuing to work on steady pacing, staying out of the red zone, and getting back to CrossFit!

All I needed were some miles in a beautiful place /via @oldrunningmom #runchat #running #DoorCounty

How about you? How was your week? What are you looking forward to this week?

I'm linking up Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.

44 comments :

  1. I feel the same about Bolton Landing. It's my second home in the summer. But the water is still too cold to swim.

    You had lots of running this week. I did not but some weeks are like that.

    We both raced yesterday. We had perfect weather.

    Congrats on your award.

    I am still too nervous to ever run a trail race.

    I do want to get out on the trails to run. I even bought shoes at the outlet yesterday.

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    1. I run on trails in my stability shoes. If I keep doing it, I'll get trail shoes.

      Why are you nervous?

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  2. Sounds awesome! I just went to a public relations travel/tourism conference and there was a guy from Door County there. I’d never heard of it before that!

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    1. Oh how interesting that he was there! In the Midwest, Door County is very well known.

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  3. Safe Travels & Enjoy What The Local Culture Has To Offer

    Cheers

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  4. I know you'll appreciate my own news: I ran 10k yesterday, first time since fracturing my pelvis and squarely in the middle of radiation treatments. Like you, I'm positive that doing the heart rate running I've been doing this month is helping a LOT.

    Any chance you're on Strava?

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    1. I find it amazing that you're running, even undergoing radiation. That's toughness right there.

      I am on Strava; look for me under Wendy Joyce.

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  5. Ooh sounds like just what you needed this weekend! Perfect running conditions indeed. I have never been around that area before but looks pretty relaxing and chill. Thanks for linking up and have a fantastic week

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  6. Oh my gosh that scenery looks amazing. No wonder you are feeling restored and refreshed. How awesome that your family participated in the trail race. So much fun!

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    1. I would have gone by myself but boy was I happy that they came with!

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  7. Hooray for a great week & time with family!

    Trail running ALWAYS feels so much harder than road racing. Like, a 5k feels like a 10k! I've been doing a walk break to drink water each mile, and that last mile I told myself just run, but the race had started at 10 am, and despite shady trails it was hot ... and yup, I took a walk break in the middle of the last mile. Darn it.

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    1. I was surprised at how hard it was to run on the trails. The softer landing means more effort pushing off; my ankles are telling me today that they didn't care much for that!

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  8. I love that your runs have been feeling better lately - makes my heart smile! :)
    Hope you continue to enjoy your time in Door County!

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    1. It was such a fun weekend; now we're home and returning to real life is always hard!

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  9. Door County is always a good idea! Glad you're enjoying despite the cool weather. Trails are a different animal. I see so many people struggle on them because they are so different from pavement running.

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    1. I really enjoy trail running and I think it's something I need to do more of.

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  10. Our forecast rain was much less than we were anticipating, too, and I'm always good with that! Glad you had a great week ;-)

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  11. So glad you were able to enjoy some time in your happy place! And it makes me smile to see that running is going much better for you!

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  12. Looks like a great week! I have a trail run coming up this week...my only goal is to not fall! Lol

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    1. Oh, that was a goal for me! It's funny, trying to run fast and then the earth throws all these obstacles at you...LOL

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  13. So glad to read that your running is going better once again! It looks like you were running in a beautiful place! :)

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    1. It's truly beautiful up there. The contrast between the north woods and suburban Chicago is jarring.

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  14. I'm glad running is going well! Whenever you post about Door County, I think of growing up in the UP of Michigan. We visited Door County a lot!

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  15. Congrats on the AG award! Sounds like a great vacation all around.

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    1. It was fun and it was busy! I'm exhausted today! But so worth it.

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  16. Sounds like a fabulous trip. Believe it or not, I've never been to Door County. One of these days I will make my way up there.

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  17. How cool that you got trees after the race! This sounds like a beautiful trip.

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  18. Congrats on placing in your age group! It's so wonderful that running is feeling good for you- I hope that keeps up! There's something magical about even short weekends away in nature.

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    1. I hope it keeps up too! I'm enjoying these little trail races. I wish we had more trails to run on around here.

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  19. This sounds like a great week! Really on the upswing. I just requested to follow you on Strava btw :) Congrats on placing in your age group! As for the HR monitoring, do you use it to keep your "easy" runs in the easy range? My HR always seems so high compared to other people. I'm really trying to go slower (by HR) on my easy runs, but it hasn't been super successful so far.

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    1. I'm still figuring the whole HR thing out. I'm trying to use it to keep my easy runs easy but it isn't easy! I don't want to run as slow as I should. Hard to teach this old dog new tricks.

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  20. I was loving your photos last week from your getaway. It looks absolutely stunning there! I'm so glad you were able to get something you really needed!! Well done on your race!!

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  21. So happy to see you so happy!!!

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    1. If running outdoors in the woods is wrong, I don't want to be right! :p

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  22. Sunshine and nature. Magic. So glad you're having a great renewal, and congrats on the age group placement.

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  23. I've never been to Door County but have heard of it. Glad your runs are feeling much better. That makes me happy.

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