A Vacation and A Staycation

I'm going to apologize in advance for this very long post--I missed last week while I was out of town attending Brooks' Hype Fest, so you get a 2 week recap. With Michelle as my witness, I did bring my laptop to California, with every intention of posting last Sunday. But in the evening when we returned to our room, we were both so exhausted that we literally passed out. I shared a daily recap on IG and even that felt inadequate--we just did so much in the 4 days we were out there. I recapped it all on a blog post, which you can read HERE. My RHT teammates continue to post recaps on IG and while I am amazed at everyone's creativity, looking at their posts, I can hardly believe everything we packed in those 4 days!

The smartest thing I've done in a long time was to work up until the day I left for California and then to take the week off work after returning home. This gave me a chance to rest and regroup. It was really nice to have time away from work to focus on other things--and there was a lot going on that needed my attention. 

Most importantly, I came home to a sick little pup. Cocoa is going to need surgery on that other ear and I am bringing her to the UW Madison vet school for her appointment on Monday to discuss the plan. I'll share more details next week. 

I had my foot ultrasound on Thursday. The pain has been improving and I can run on it, but it still lets me know that it's not right. Interestingly, the radiologist who scanned it told me that there was no plantar plate tear (woot!) and no neuroma (double woot!). There was some fluid around the joint and he suspects a bad bone contusion from when I landed on the rock a few weeks ago. I still need to talk with my ortho to confirm, but this is very good news. Obviously, I would have liked an answer, but at least all the bad stuff is ruled out and hopefully, I'll be back to normal soon. 

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: trail run 6 miles

Monday: CrossFit 1450m running

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: Trail run 7 miles

Thursday: Brooks Hype Fest

Friday: Brooks Scavenger Hunt run 6 miles; Trail Run 3 miles, 1000 ft of ascent!

Saturday: Brooks RHT morning 5k along the beach

Sunday: Brooks RHT Banana Run 1.5 miles

Monday: REST

Tuesday: CrossFit

Wednesday: treadmill run 6 miles

Thursday: strength training

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: yoga

Running

I finally was able to join the Trail Sisters Chicago Northwest for a trail run. When I got to the preserve, the parking lot was full and there were a bunch of water bottles at the trailhead. I saw a sign for a Tracksmith Running event. Once we were out on the trail, we were passed by a lot of really fast runners wearing Tracksmith Gear! I had no idea there was a team or a club, and doing a Google search yielded very little info, except that you can pay to join their Hare A.C. member for $198. But I also came upon a calendar with group events that it seemed like everyone could sign up for. 

Anyhoo, we Trail Sisters all started out together. Only one runner wanted to get big miles in preparation for Chicago. The rest of us were content to do 6 on this very warm, humid morning. I ran with my friends Kristin and Ilisa, who is the group leader. We stopped a lot for walk breaks and passed the time catching up. I was sad to learn that Kristin will be moving back to Hawaii to be with her family. I met her through the Brooks Run Happy team and she is probably one of the kindest people I have ever met. We were able to spend a lot of time together at Brooks Hype Fest and that made me happy! I might just have to visit her in Hawaii!

I wanted to get in a good run before Hype Fest, so on Wednesday, I laced up my trail shoes and headed to the preserve. The first mile or so was not encouraging--in fact, I battled shin splints and did a lot of walking to try to loosen up. Fortunately, I did and enjoyed a really nice run on both single track and limestone trail. I finished up with an encounter with my favorite young buck, sporting his newly sprouted antlers! He let me get close, but not too close before he meandered into the woods. Day made and a great reminder that you can never judge a run by the first mile!

As I mentioned above, I recapped my Brooks Hype Fest experience in a separate post. However, we did do a lot of running and I wanted to share that here in my weekly rundown.

On Friday, we met up with our assigned groups and ran from the hotel to the Brooks pop-up shop in Venice, about a 2.5 mile run. We were given 3 things to find on a scavenger hunt--something that floats, something that supports, and something speedy. We made quick time of it and found a store selling rafts, a scaffold outside a building, and a Corvette.  

Later that day, we joined a large group for a trail run in Los Leones Canyon, which is part of the Topanga Canyon State Park. It was really hot and steep, and we ended up hiking most of the trail. Our planned 6 miler turned into a 3-ish miler. We had some amazing views of the ocean, hillside mansions, and downtown LA. I'd like to go back to explore more--but only on a cooler day. 

On Saturday morning we were up and out the door at 7 am for a 5k run along the beach. It was a gorgeous morning and there were a lot of people out, including the LA Leggers pace groups. I ran most of it with Kristin and we took it easy.

With Hurricane Hilary bearing down on LA, we hoped our scheduled final run on Sunday morning would happen. A lot of participants left earlier to avoid the storm, but there was still a pretty good sized group in the lobby for our run. The plan was to GO BANANAS! The storm hadn't arrived yet, but it was drizzling and very humid. It didn't stop us from having so much fun!! We ran to the Santa Monica pier, attracting a lot of attention along the way. This was an absolute blast and the perfect way to cap off an amazing weekend!

Back at home, on Wednesday, I overslept and when I woke up at 7 it was already 85 degrees and 85% humidity. Instead of my planned trail run, I ran inside on the treadmill. I haven't minded it as much now that I have a dedicated workout space. I ran continuously for 6 miles at an easy pace. I wore the Hyperions that we received at Hype Fest and I am really liking them. My foot let me know it's still not right, but I didn't have much pain at all. 

Friday morning was overcast and 72F with 92% humidity. It felt ok when I stepped outside, so I proceeded to the bike path for my 6 miler. The first 2 miles went really well--I ran just a touch slower than my usual pace. But by mile 3, my effort was affected by the humidity and I had to do a run/walk for the rest of the run. I stopped for water at the fountains and had to use the freshly cleaned porta-potty once. This run was such a mental battle for me--so many times, I wanted to turn around and go home, but I was determined to finish my 6 miles. I was pretty proud of myself, finishing with an average pace that was only 1m/m slower than normal. I felt pretty fatigued and queasy--similar to how I feel when I redline at CrossFit--and gave myself plenty of time to recover. 

CrossFit

Since I was out of town on Thursday, there was no strength session last week. But I was excited to attend the WOD on Monday! This was right up my alley: the first portion was a 14 minute OTC of 100m Farmer's Carry (35#KB each hand), 6 single arm dumbbell press (20#), and :30 hollow hold. I made it through 4 rounds of this. The MetCon was a 14 minute AMRAP of 250m run, 15 ball over shoulder (30#), and 12 ball squats (30#). I did 4 rounds of this PLUS I did another 250m run, finishing just after time was called. It was a good one!

After a day to recover from the weekend out of town, on Tuesday, it was back to CrossFit. Due to the impending heat, the coaches said they adjusted this week's workouts but I didn't even want to think about what the original workout was! We started the 18 minute strength portion off by working on handstand push-ups or progression. I don't have handstand push-ups, but SJ told me to get upside down on the wall and work on negatives, which I thought I was doing. She told me I wasn't going low enough to 'touch' my head on the pad below. It's scary, y'all! We alternated those with 5 lengths of a bear hug carry--I used a 50# slam ball-- and 30 seconds of battle ropes. I completed 4 rounds of this. The MetCon was 4 rounds for time of 500m rowing, 15 lateral ball hops, and 12 slam balls. I finished DFL, but not by much. This was tough for me.

Walking into the gym for strength training on Thursday morning felt like stepping into a swamp. Ugh. This sesh was all upper body focused and it was a good one. I started out with strict presses, 4 sets of 6 at 50#. I alternated these with 1 set of assisted pull-ups and 3 sets of 4 pull-up negatives. For these, I started out on a box, jumped up to chin over the bar, and lowered myself down slowly. So. Hard. This was followed by 3 sets each of DB chest flies, 8 reps using 15# DBs,  8 strict push-ups, and 8 25# barbell rows. She had me focus on engaging my lats for the rows, which made a big difference--lifting the BB using the lats instead of my arms. I felt this one for several days.

Off the Road

Two weeks ago, on Sunday after my run, I drove up to Madison to load up my car with some of my youngest's belongings to move him to Chicago. Before I drove back to Chicago, we had lunch. Once I got to Chicago, I met my oldest son and his girlfriend at his 2 flat. They helped me unload my car and set things up in the basement unit where my youngest will live. Then we went out for dinner and drinks. It was a really fun evening as we enjoyed the lively neighborhood where he lives. I left before my youngest and his girlfriend arrived with the rest of his things. I'm happy to have him settled, but sad to not have him in Madison anymore!!

On Tuesday, after I returned to California, I drove into the city to help my youngest get settled into his new place. We spent the afternoon looking for furniture but didn't have much luck--new things were too pricey and used items were in pretty bad shape. We did have a really good lunch at a Jamaican place we stumbled upon called Doctor Bird in Wicker Park. We had probably the best jerk we've ever had. Later, we met up with my oldest and his girlfriend to celebrate his birthday at Longman and Eagle in Logan Square. It was delicious! I walked with them to a bar where they were meeting up with some of Tom's friends and I headed back home. Oh, to be young again!

I got to hang with my granddog, Kali!

If you made it this far, thank you!!! How was your week? Are you a fan of staycations? Have you had to adjust your workouts because of the heat? 

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