The Icing on the Cake

After a busy September, I hoped for a more relaxing October, but this month started with a bang! I'm not complaining--it's been a really great week! Our fabulous weather has continued and I'm going to savor every last bit--I know what's coming. 

If you follow me on IG, you know that I finished this week with some waterskiing on Lake Wisconsin. In the past, I could never imagine skiing in October. But never say never, right? It was 81F and sunny. Yes, the water was a cold 63F. But I have a half wetsuit, which I put into action on Saturday night. It felt as great as you might expect. And my cup is full...

Weekly Rundown:

Sunday: trail run with Trail Sisters 4 miles

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: trail run 8.5 miles

Thursday: CrossFit

Friday: run 5 miles

Saturday: Ice Age Trail run 8 miles/1000 ft, waterskiing

I was really excited to meet up with the Trail Sisters Chicago Northwest on Sunday! It has been a while since I last ran with them. We met at a local preserve with wide, crushed limestone paths. The ladies took off at a brisk pace--a little faster than I wanted to go. It was also very humid. When the option to go 6 vs 4 miles came up, I took the 4 mile option. It was a nice little run with good company. 

The Monday WOD was similar to what we've been doing lately--body weight work for the strength portion and a deceptively challenging MetCon. The strength portion was a 15 minute workout of 10 banded standing psoas marches, 10 single arm dumbbell press per side (20# DB), and 10 plank dumbbell pull throughs (20#). Felt those in my core! The MetCon was 3 rounds of 500m row, 12 devil's presses (12# DBs each hand),, and 21 box step ups holding DBs. I finished in 16:02, which was respectable!

It was a cool 46 degrees on Wednesday morning when I headed to the trails. How to dress? I wisely chose shorts and a long sleeve top. I made my way around the preserve under the bright sunshine. Not much to say about this run except that I didn't want to stop! What a beautiful morning!

I was excited to go to CrossFit on Thursday because it was...3 rep max deadlift day! Yep, we're going back to heavy lifting and I'm really happy about it. I always worry that I'm going to lose strength in the off season. I don't know what I was worried about because I PR'd my lift at 190#!! My 1 RM deadlift last spring was 205#, so I should be able to pass that. We'll see. It was a good day. We finished up with a short little MetCon: 3 rounds for time: 10 KB swings (20#), 1 length single arm front rack lunge using the KB, 24 abmat situps, and 1 length other arm front rack lunge. I finished in 7:09.

Sore from yesterday's workout and with big plans to tackle some miles for the Mammoth Trail challenge over the weekend, I decided to take it easy on my Friday bike path run. There was some rain just south of us. I ran in the Brooks Glycerin Max again and they felt great! I stopped at 2.5 miles to turn around and spotted a little hint of a sunrise. Determined to catch it, I hit the gas and ran my fastest mile to get to the lake. The clouds moved back in before I could get there, but I was left with a very pretty, moody sky. 

I kicked off the Mammoth Trail Challenge on Saturday with an 8 mile run to an old favorite, the Sauk Point Segment. I haven't run there for a few years and forgot how rocky and steep the trail is. But it was as beautiful as I remembered. I stumbled quite a few times but managed to stay upright. It was such a beautiful day and I was so happy to be out on the trails! I've got to accumulate 44 miles and I'm looking forward to exploring some new segments on this challenge. 

Off the road...

Earlier this week, my oldest son texted me that he had tickets for Wednesday's sold out Sturgill Simpson concert at the Salt Shed in Chicago. I was thrilled to be included in his plans. My hubs is still struggling with back issues and didn't think he could go, so my youngest son went in his place. EVEN BETTER: my youngest son works as a bartender in the city and one of his coworkers was working the event. We got free drinks and VIP wristbands, giving us access to the upper balcony with the best views of the stage and the Chicago skyline. The show? Sturgill played for 3 straight hours. What a great show and venue! He's the best country and rock performer that you've never heard of. 

You may have noticed that I'm wearing a compression sleeve in some of my photos. A few years ago, I fell on the trail and knocked my kneecap off center. I've had issues with it ever since. The PT at the gym has helped me with it, providing exercises and taping to keep me moving. Despite everything I've been doing, lately, it's been really bothering me. Compression helps, so I've been wearing the knee sleeve when I'm running. I'll continue to do my home exercises and hopefully, it will calm down. 

How was your week? Are you experiencing unseasonably warm weather? And are you taking advantage of it? 

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