Don't Worry, Run Happy!

The family drama I wrote about last week spilled into this week. I keep wishing it would go away, but I don't think that is going to happen. Thank goodness for running and my workouts. I was able to sweat out a lot of my stress again. We had beautiful weather for most of the week, and I fully enjoyed my trail runs. There's just something about being in nature that makes me so happy!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Ice Age Trail Run 10.5 miles/1400ft

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: trail run 7.5 miles

Thursday: CrossFit

Friday: run 6.5 miles

Saturday: rest

Last weekend, we were up at the lake and I was excited to lace up my shoes and run on the Lodi Marsh segment! I loved everything about this run: the cool temperatures, the lack of wind, the sunshine, the solitude, the blossoms, the birds...I didn't want it to end. The highlight of this run was my climb down the steep incline to the marsh, which was in full bloom. It was breathtaking and my photos just don't do it justice. 

One of my other highlights was stumbling upon a little sandhill crane courtship. I heard them before I saw them. One was on the trail ahead of me and the other was flying overhead. They were calling to each other and it was just amazing. I just stopped and watched them for a while before finishing my run. This run was such a treat!

I woke up pretty sore on Monday! But off to CrossFit it was for some work on the bar. After a lengthy warmup, the strength portion was a 12 minute E2MOM of toes-to-bar, unbroken. I don't have toes-to-bar, so I worked on leg raises and did 5 in a row each time.  The MetCon was 4 rounds for time of 12 calories on the Echo bike, 20 single arm dumbbell snatches, and 16 single arm dumbbell overhead lunges. I used a 15# DB because I didn't think I could hold a 20# DB overhead for all those lunges.

I was up and out the door early Wednesday morning for my trail run. It was a perfect morning--pleasantly cool with bright sunshine and no wind. I didn't anticipate the muddy trails, though! We had quite a bit of rain the day before and I did a lot of puddle jumping both on the single track and the main trail. I saw the deer triplets again, right at the start of my run, plus a few others of the herd. I happened upon something going on with a strange chattering coming from inside a downed tree trunk and a bunch of squirrels running out and around it. Squirrel wrestling match? Squirrel orgy? You be the judge. Trail running is never boring and this gave me a lot to think about as I continued my run!

Thursday was a cold, rainy day and I was glad to have CrossFit on the agenda. The strength/skill portion had 12 minutes on the clock with 12 rower hamstring curls--basically hip bridges with your feet on the rower seat, sliding it back and forth as you lift and squeeze the glutes, 1 lap banded sidesteps, and 6 per side single arm inverted KB (10#) press. I finished 3 rounds of this. I could definitely go up with the weight on the KB press. The MetCon was basically Murph prep. It was 5-4-3-2-1 of Row x 100m, and rounds of Cindy: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats. 

There was some confusion about how this was to go. So for the first round--we did 500m on the rower and 5 rounds of 5 pull-ups (I did ring rows), 10 pushups, and 15 squats. I only made it through 3 rounds of Cindy before time was called at 25 minutes. Doing the math, I did a total of 1200m on the rower, 60 ring rows, 120 pushups, and 180 squats. 

I headed out on Friday morning for my bike path run and as you might expect, after Thursday's WOD, my legs were tired. This was a dig deep, suck-it-up kinda run. I remembered the advice my coach Becky gave during marathon training 10 years ago when she made me run after hard gym workouts: you need to run on tired legs. Her theory being that in the tough miles of a long-distance race, running on fatigued legs train you to dig deep and push through the pain. With a tough trail race coming up in a week, this run was a perfect reminder of what I need to do!

Off the Road

If you don't work in healthcare, you might not have been aware that it was Nurses' Week this week. Lucky me, I get to celebrate with all my fellow nurses. But I also get included in Doctor's Day, Nurse Practitioners' Day, and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner's Day. There is also a Certified Nurses Day, but we don't really celebrate that. Personally, I think every day should be Nurses' Day but that's a topic for another forum. Anyhoo, most of the celebrating was done at the hospital, but we did have some fun--every day was a themed outfit day, and on Tuesday, it was Hawaiian Day. The only Hawaiian shirt I own is an Inknburn tank, which I wore. So much fun and it was a reminder of how much love I have for my team!

On Saturday, we celebrated the impending arrival of my sister's first grandchild with a baby shower. My sister Lisa hosted and my youngest sister Danielle was in town as well. Unfortunately, my parents were both sick with a bad cold virus and my mom was unable to attend. It was a nice gathering and we are all excited about meeting the baby!

How was your week? Have you been enjoying some nice outdoor runs? Any thoughts on what was going on with the squirrels in the tree trunk? What are you doing for Mother's Day? After a run in the morning on the trails, I'll be spending the day with my sons and my hubs. Sounds pretty perfect to me!

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