Ice Age Trail 50k Training Week 4

Another week of fun in the woods! Seriously, I'm writing this from the north woods of Wisconsin. I've shared here on the blog that my parents have sold my childhood summer home and I'm here with my boys for one last hurrah. I'm grateful for the gift of having a place like this to make so many memories, both as a child myself and with my own children. 

Running-wise, I'm especially grateful this weekend for being able to get some miles in up here. Not only have I been able to run some trails here, the temperatures have been cooler than at home. Summer running at it's finest...

Weekly Rundown

Monday: CrossTraining at the gym!

Tuesday: Run 5 miles

Wednesday: Trail run 6 miles

Thursday: rest/drive to Door County

Friday: Kayaking on the Mink River

Saturday: Trail hike 5 miles

Sunday: Trail run 13.25 miles

Running

I'm not sure what happened, whether it was all the miles I ran over the weekend, that hard workout on Monday, or the lack of sleep Monday night, but Tuesday's 5 miler was one of the worst runs I've had in a very long time. I sure can't blame the weather. It was a cool, gorgeous morning. My legs felt heavy. The first 2 miles were fine but after that, my heart rate skyrocketed and I couldn't keep it down. I ended up walking way more that I did running, but isn't that the point of running by HR? I went to work after that, made it through my day somehow, and went to bed at 8 that night. Slept like a rock. I think I needed it.

Wednesday's trail run was amazing. I felt so good after a full night's sleep. It was another perfect morning, and I was able to run most of my miles--save for the root-laden single track--without doing much walking. My HR was in a good zone. Thank goodness for runs like these, right? These are the ones that bring you back. 

On Saturday, the plan had me running 13 miles. But on Friday night, I went out with the kids for cocktails and pushed that run to Sunday. I was left with a 5 mile trail run. As I was getting ready to head out the door, my oldest got up and wanted to join me for a hike on the trails. How could I say no? We completely enjoyed our 5 mile hike at Newport State Park, save for the swarms of mosquitoes and the snakes. In fact, I enjoyed this so much that I made plans to head back to these trails on Sunday for my 13 miler.

At the trailhead

I went back to the state park for my long run. Initially, I retraced our steps from our hike the day before, with a couple detours. I went back to the car for more bug spray and water and then headed to the other trail for the remainder of my miles. I was rewarded with lovely views of Lake Michigan almost the entire way. On the way back, the trail took me along an inland lake and up and down some very hilly, rooty trails. I stumbled a few times and rolled my ankle but nothing serious happened. I finished my last mile along the lake again on a very rooty, rocky, narrow trail. Saw a large snake there, which scared the heck out of me! Trail running is an awesome adventure and I finished feeling very very happy (and tired). 

CrossTraining/Strength

Now that my gym has dropped its affiliation with CrossFit, I'm not quite sure what to call these workouts, lol! On Monday, I went back to the gym! I walked in with my mask on and Sammy Jo checked my temperature. She led me to a taped off area, which was my designated workout section. My barbells and plates were there, as well as a rower. Adjacent to the taped off area was the rig where I would do my TTB practice. We started off with back squats at 60-70%. This is where I knew I had lost some strength. I did mine at 65#. Looking back, my 1RM is 160#, so I have a ways to go to get back. The WOD was 5 rounds for time of a 250m run (I rowed), hang power snatches (25#) x 10, and 12 TTB. I worked on kipping swings, trying to get my toes up to the bar. SJ was thrilled with those. It's all that lat work she gave me to do at home! 

After my last set, I dropped to the floor, started to brush the chalk off my hands, and yikes, I discovered that I completely ripped the callus on my left hand. It didn't hurt when it happened but when I pulled off the flap of skin, I was seriously questioning why I do this! I won't post pictures because gruesome photos aren't my thing, but yeah, I earned my muscles that day. Thankfully, my son, who was a gymnast in high school, still had a jar of rip fix. I've been applying that diligently and it's healing nicely. Good thing I'm not going back until next week. 

Kayaking/SUP

My oldest son and I rented kayaks and paddled across Rowley's Bay, which is part of Lake Michigan, over to the mouth of the Mink River estuary. An estuary is a river that flows into a larger body of water. The paddle across the bay was challenging. It took us about 20 minutes to make our way over the waves, but once we got to the river, it was calm and pleasant, We paddled to the end of the river, making a pit stop on shore and getting eaten alive by the largest mosquitoes known to man. We finished our river paddle and made our way back across an even wavier bay back to the dock. It was a lovely cruise!

You all know how much I love my water sports! We've had such great weather for it. Besides the kayaking, we've all been enjoying my inflatable SUP. We need to get another one. 

We spent as much time on the water as we could. On Friday, there was a threat of storms and while they never materialized, we experienced a strange phenomenon--swarms of biting flies. Even insect spray wouldn't deter them. We fled to the house and they followed us, swarming the closed doors. It was the strangest thing! After the storm clouds passed, the flies were gone. We headed out later to an outdoor beer garden and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. 

Yummy beer is Mirror University Hazy IPA from Fair State Brewing in Minneapolis

Sunset over Sister Bay
No filter!

How was your week? Are you enjoying summer? Have you been back to the gym?

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