On the Way Up

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After hitting the skids in February, I can say that things are definitely looking brighter! Once again, this week we were gifted with a lot of sunshine and the snow is gone. The trees have leaf buds on the branches. I spotted robins on my runs. My daffodils are even poking through the dirt. I know it's too soon to put away my winter coat, but it sure felt good to not have to layer up for my runs this week. In fact, I even got to wear shorts one day. 

Off the road, life has been pretty uneventful. My sister had her surgery last week and everything went well. The pathology report came back clear, meaning she is cancer free! This is all such good news! Today we're having lunch and going for a walk. We're even talking about planning our sister trip for the fall. Things are definitely looking up!

Weekly Rundown

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: trail run 6 miles

Thursday: strength training

Friday: run 6.2 miles

Saturday: run 8.5 miles

Sunday: Pi Day run 3.14 miles

Running

Wednesday's trail run was a mixed bag of conditions, but it was mostly a sloppy mess of a run. There was no consistent pattern either. I would be running along, minding my own business, and hit a stretch of ice that had no way around it. Or thick, deep mud. Then all of a sudden it would be dry again. I even had to run through some snow! It was a challenging run, but that's trail running, right? I was grateful for my waterproof trail shoes and my ankle gaiters, although they were coated with mud! I hear from my trail buddies that everything is melted now. I imagine that the area around the creek is underwater, though. We'll see when I go back this week.

I posted on IG about how much I love my Friday morning runs and once again, my legs showed me love back. For most of these runs, I've been gifted with glorious sunrises. This week, the path was completely clear and it was nice not to have to avoid any black ice. This was a zippy 10k and after I finished, I cruised into work, ready to take on what was a very busy day! After being very slow for most of this year, we're finally seeing a good amount of patients again. 

In preparation for my 10 mile race in April, I was determined to run 8 miles on Saturday. I woke up once again to bright sunshine. I also woke up to some pretty significant DOMS from Thursday's strength workout (see below). I'm sure my speedy run on Friday also didn't do my legs any favors. Since I was feeling fatigued and sore, I brought back the 4:1 run/walk intervals, and they were much needed. At the preserve where I logged most of my miles, it got quite crowded! 

Note to self: avoid this preserve on the weekends. 

Bottom line: I'm glad I got it done. This was a dig deep kind of run.

Even with the time change Sunday morning, I woke up with the sun and laced up to run 3.14 miles for Pi Day. I know it's not really a 'thing', but it was a good excuse to get a fourth day of running on the calendar. There was a brisk east wind blowing off Lake Michigan and even though I'm about 20 miles away from there, when it blows, we feel it. I had the wind at my back for the end of my run and that pushed me to a sub-9 minute pace. I'll take it!

CrossFit/Strength

Monday's WOD brought the return of the heavy back squats with the goal of a 1 rep max. I hit 135# and it felt heavy. When I loaded up 145#, which was what I hit last time I tried this, I couldn't stand back up from the squat and had to dump the bar off my back. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I am sure that I was not in the right mindset for this, after my fail a couple of weeks ago. I was a little anxious going into the workout. SJ put it best when she told me not to try for a 1 RM, but to try for 1 heavy back squat. So that's what I did, right? I crushed the MetCon, though, a 3-6-9-12+ AMRAP of pull-ups ( I used a band), assault bike calories, and burpees. 

We shifted gears for Thursday's strength workout, working on stability and smaller muscles, which was a lot of fun. I started off with pistol squats to a box. Then she had me alternate Russian KB swings (50#) with side lunges holding a dumbbell (25#). I finished up with box jumps (30"). This was a great workout, but as I mentioned above, I felt it for several days after!

It had to be the new CrossFit shoes!!!

And this...

Not to step on Kim's toes, but I had to share this meme. Because yeah, fitness is my passion! And so is wine, lol! Have a great week!

How was your week? Did you weather the time change? Is spring popping by you? Did you run 3.14 miles for Pi Day? Tell me something good about your week. 

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown. Happy Birthday to Kim!