Life and a Race

My anxiety level was high this week and it wasn't just due to my impending half marathon. 

There was last week's sad news that my young patient had passed. This week, my parents asked me to fix their computer again. Like many of us, they are struggling with many passwords, however, their solution is to keep creating new user names and passwords, which eventually gets them locked out of their accounts. I arrived with new solutions and was greeted by my mom, sporting a black eye. My sister had warned me that on the day before, my mom was on her treadmill when the phone rang. She forgot to stop the treadmill and fell on her face. It looked pretty bad, but she seemed ok when I got to their house. 

It was also her birthday and when I set her up for a Zoom call with her high school friends, she asked me what happened to her face. I calmly told her, and my dad and I exchanged worried looks. The next day, I called him to check on her--he thought she was fine, but I urged him to take her to be checked out. I was worried about a brain bleed, and she had a head CT which was clear. Whew. 

My sisters and I have been worried about my mom for a while now. She always took care of everyone, including my dad. Trying to get him to step up after all these years has been challenging. I'm the only one who is local, which is also another challenge. We'd like to see them downsize and move somewhere that would provide more support, but my dad isn't ready to give up his garage and his old cars. I get that.

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: run 11 miles

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: trail run 6 miles

Thursday: tun 4 miles

Friday: Yoga with Adriene

Saturday: F3 Lakefront Half Marathon

January miles: 100!

For my Sunday long run, I originally had plans to run on the Chicago lakefront with my son and my friend Frank. But those plans changed because I wanted to attend the services for my patient later that day. I ran close to home, on the bike path. I figured most of the snow would be melted with the warmer weather and rain we've been having, and I was right. Some spots were ice and snow covered, but for the most part, I could navigate around that. Call it an exercise in agility. When I set out on this run, my goal was the same as I had set for all my long runs this year: consistent pacing, around 10 m/m. My first 2 miles were a little faster than that, and I did my best to dial it back a bit. The snow/ice on some sections of the trail forced me to slow down and it all evened out. I finished feeling that I could go a few more miles--something I hoped boded well for Saturday's half marathon!

I was feeling a little fatigued and very achy Monday morning, but I figured that the best way to shake off my funk was to sweat. The strength portion of the workout had us doing those power clean complexes that we did a few weeks ago, 4 sets, building each time: 3 power cleans into a front squat, 2 front squats, and one jerk. I started at 55#, building to 80#. Barbell cycling really makes your heart race! Whew! The MetCon had 4 rounds of 250m rows, 10 push presses (55#), and 10 v-ups. We had 3 minutes to work, but this was a sprint workout, with the goal of getting at least one minute of rest before the next round. It was hard!

After Sunday's long run, I didn't want to do any hard running this week. The plan was to keep my legs 'fresh' for Saturday's half marathon. On Wednesday, I returned to the forest preserve for a trail run. Most of the snow is gone and I figured that while the trails would be sloppy, they would be runable. For the most part, they were. Even though it was cloudy and cold, it felt really good to be back in the woods, and yes, I saw my deer friends! 

When I woke up on Thursday, I checked the WOD and saw that it had thrusters. A lot of thrusters. 73 in total. With my half marathon in 2 days and fearing DOMS, I made the decision to skip the WOD and go for a short, easy-paced run in the beautiful sunshine. I drove to the retention pond. I made my 2 loops around the lake, trying to hold back my pace. I didn't run as slow as I had hoped, but it was a fun run and I am so glad I made the decision to do this. 55F in February? New shoes? Bright sunshine? 

Saturday was race day! My son and I lined up to run the F3 Lakefront Half Marathon. I'll share a full recap on Tuesday, but I'll comment here that despite being well trained for the distance, was another tough one for me. I had some breathing issues in the back half of the race--I couldn't catch my breath and had to stop multiple times. Fortunately, I was able to finish and was greeted by both boys and their girlfriends!  We went out to lunch at Cruz Blanca, a fun little spot in Fulton Market that features Mexican food and craft beers. You know I love a good beer after a hard run!

I got home, took a long hot shower, and then it was out with my hubs for dinner and a comedy show at Zanies. The comedian was Pete Lee and he was hilarious. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. I discovered him one day when I was watching Reels and one of his popped up. I thought he was so funny that I watched a few more. If you get a chance to see him, check it out!

How was your week? Did you race this week? Are you experiencing early spring? Did you do anything fun over the weekend?

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