A Lot to Unpack!

Life got busy and I missed last week's rundown. Again. But it was worth it. For the first time in almost 2 years, I took a trip to the south to visit my friend and former Weekly Wrap cohost, Holly. In spite of a few glitches in my travels (I'll share that on Friday's Coffee Talk), once I got there, we picked up right where we left off. It was a fun trip and as always, too short! I'm still riding high and grateful to Holly and her husband for their hospitality. 

Meanwhile, life goes on as usual. There was running and strength training; this week, after several years  of working towards it, I finally attained my goal of a strict pull-up! Weather-wise, we went from summer to winter and back to summer again. 

I have a lot to unpack here; I'm going to try to hit the highlights of my past 2 weeks and keep you from glazing over. If you want to see more details, check out my Instagram!

Giant pinecones in Alabama!

Weekly Rundown x2:

Monday: Crossfit

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: trail run 6 miles

Thursday: travel to Alabama

Friday: hike 3 miles, waterski

Saturday: Swayback trail run 5 miles, waterski

Sunday: walk 3 miles, waterski

Monday: waterski

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: trail run 7.5 miles

Thursday: strength train

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: rest

Sunday: Ice Age Trail run 4 miles

Running

Most of my miles the past two weeks were on the trails! The highlight of my runs was the return to the Swayback Trails in Alabama. I hiked there with Holly 2 years ago. This week, she wanted to do hill repeats, so I ducked into the woods and enjoyed the beautiful trails. The paths were covered with pine needles, making for a very soft ride. It's fairly hilly and in particular, I enjoyed one trail called 'Tola Coaster', which was a 2 mile round and round, up and down path, similar to a roller coaster ride. Another trail took me to the lake and back. It was a warm day, but the shade kept me comfortable. 

CrossFit/Strength training

Another highlight this week was finally doing my first ever strict pull-up! A few years ago, I set 3 non-running goals: to do a rope climb, a handstand, and a strict pull-up. While I've achieved the first 2 goals, the strict pull-up has been elusive. This week when I met with Sammy Jo, we worked on clean and split jerk technique. She wanted to alternate those with assisted pull-ups. I put my hands on the bar and before she could lift me up, I was up over the bar!!!!! I did 2 more and then she had to help me with #4. When I dropped down, she looked at me, stunned. I told her I was going to cry and then she started to cry, and yeah. It happened. I tried again after that and nope, no more pull-ups, but now I know it is in me and I am SO EXCITED! 

Waterskiing

In this couple of weeks full of highlights, this was THE highlight of the past 2 weeks, hands down. When I visited Holly last, in September of 2019, she had me try her Radar ski, the one she didn't like much. As it turns out, I liked it a lot. Since then, we've talked about me buying it, but couldn't work out the logistics, much less pay the shipping cost. On my recent trip, I skied all weekend on this beauty and fell in love. When we realized I could check it as oversized baggage on my flight home, we packed it up and now it is mine. 

I swear, this ski has magical powers. I glided across the water, I carved, I sprayed, I cut, I didn’t want to stop. Truly, it is a joy to ski on. The only glitch was the very tight boot, which was a challenge to get over my foot. Once I was in, I was golden. Until the last run, that is, when I fell and my foot did not release from the boot. I twisted my ankle when I hit the water. Yikes. When I got the ski home, my hubs and I adjusted the boot to loosen it up a bit. It was too cold to ski in Wisconsin this weekend--the water was 60 degrees--so I haven't tried it out, but trust me, I am ready. 

And yes, we tandem skied too!

What was the highlight of your week? Are you working on any big goals? Ever done a strict pull-up?

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