Ups and Downs

This was a tumultuous week! Weather aside, I had a lot of ups and downs. I've been feeling unsettled since Cocoa had her surgery, and life threw some curve balls my way this week. Did you see the full moon this week? It was HUGE and I'm blaming everything on that. Oh, and Mercury has been in retrograde if you believe that stuff. Normally, I don't, but I needed some explanation for all the chaos of the past couple of weeks! Thankfully that's all behind us and the week did end on a high note. 

My trail friend whose race recap let me know that I missed my race, reached out with an opportunity to redeem myself after my unintentional DNS.  She told me about an upcoming trail race on May 18 on the Blue Springs Segment of the IAT. The distance is listed as 'about 12 miles', which is perfect for me. It sounds really laid back and there's locally brewed beer at the finish line! After triple-checking the date,  I put the race on my calendar. I'm looking forward to it!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Ice Age Trail 8.5 miles/1430 ft

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: trail run 7.5 miles

Thursday: CrossFit 400m x5

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: yoga/stretch

After a very windy week, it was nice to wake up on Sunday to a wind-free morning! The bluebird sky and bright sunshine were a bonus. We were up at the lake, so I laced up my trail shoes and drove to the Gibraltar segment for some vert. I got a signal right away on my GPS, which I thought was a good sign, but then I realized I left my phone at home! It's too pretty to run there without taking photos, so back to the cabin I went. Once I got moving, everything was fine. I mostly had the trails to myself and basked in the birds singing in the trees. Yes, I stopped to take photos, but how could I not?

Just in time for some big climbs coming up--a WOD with heavy squats! On Monday, the strength portion had a 5-4-3-2-1 rep scheme for back squats. The weights were based on our 1 rep max (for me 150#), starting at ~65% (95#) and finishing at ~90% (130#). That last rep felt heavy! Any heavier and I would have needed a spotter. It's been a long time since we did anything like this and I was happy to see that I still could squat heavy. We finished with a 7 min chipper 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 plate (15#) to overhead, overhead plate lunges, and pushups. I finished just as time was being called!

Wednesday morning was chilly and windy, so naturally I overdressed. It's so hard to decide what to wear this time of year! I started on the trails, running into some of my deer buddies in the first mile. By the time I was deep in the wooded section, I was pretty warm, so I stopped to remove my fleece layer. I figured no one was there to see me. I didn't see any more deer until after I crossed the road into the west section of the preserve. I was amazed to see the deer on the main trail! 

I did have a couple of mishaps on this run--in the woods, I got poked in my right calf by a sharp stick and yes, it left a mark. I also took a tumble on the single track--those damn tree roots like to trip me up! Usually, I can catch myself before I fall, but I was moving pretty fast and my momentum wouldn't let me right myself. I was able to turn my body, landing on my left hip. Nothing hurt but my ego and I gingerly started running again, slowly at first until I was able to regain my confidence. What an adventure!

After a rough day overall on Wednesday--there was a lot of off the trail drama too--I woke up on Thursday feeling pretty low. I was sore from my fall the day before. I also had some DOMS from Monday's upper body work. I did a Yoga with Adriene morning workout during which she asked us to set an intention. That was easy--'shake it off' was the first thing that came to mind. 

At CrossFit, we started with an extensive warmup before the WOD. It was just a MetCon, a 17 minute AMRAP of 400m running, 20 DB snatches, and 10 box overs holding the dumbbell used for the snatches. I used a 15# DB. I finished 4 full rounds of this and another 400m run in the time allotted for the workout. I finished second in the class which made me so happy! Those 400s were hard but I pushed myself because as one of my classmates said, running is my thing! 

My Friday morning runs on the bike path are usually my only runs on pavement. They are also the only runs where I listen to music. I tend not to have any goals for these runs, except to be consistent. I like to let my legs dictate the pace. I really enjoy these runs, where I can just let go and run. I didn't expect this run to be speedy, especially the day after a hard CF class, but my legs wanted to go and I let them. I finished this 6 miler with a 9:23 m/m mile average pace. 

Off the Road

On Monday, the hubs and I took a ride into the city for a friends and family event at my youngest son's newest place of employment. After a few delays, the new 80's themed bar Common Decency was ready to open. We were the guinea pigs and sampled 2 cocktails and 3 main dishes. Everything was delicious! My son was happy to be behind the bar, crafting fun drinks. Hopefully, the place will be a success! 

Cocoa continues to heal and on Wednesday, I took her to the vet to have her sutures removed. She also got her monthly allergy injection, which really helped her with itching and scratching. On Thursday, the cone was off! She's so much less anxious now and wants us to throw the ball non-stop. We're still navigating the challenges of having a dog that can't hear, but so far, things are going really well! 

How was your week? Did you experience any chaos this week? Do you have any races coming up?

I'm wrapping up my monthly book reviews and will have a new post coming up on Tuesday! 

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