Trail Magic

Trail magic usually refers to the kindness shown to trail hikers and runners, such as leaving treats at a trailhead. But I experienced a different kind of trail magic this week--finding peace and contentment on my runs on beautiful trails. Fall is magical and I hit the trails this week when the colors were at their peak!  The weather has been absolutely spectacular and I look forward to wrapping up the Mammoth Trail Challenge this weekend on my most favorite segment!

Weekly Rundown:

Sunday: Ice Age Trail run 11.75 miles

Monday: CrossFit with running

Tuesday: Fluid running

Wednesday: trail run 6 miles

Thursday: unscheduled rest day

Friday: run 6.2 miles

Saturday: work/rest/travel to Wisconsin

Mammoth Trail  Challenge: 37/44 miles

I was out the door before sunrise, hoping to hit the IAT Monches Segment before the crowds. Our weather has been perfect and I expected a lot of people to head to the trails. Luckily, not too many people were on the trails when I started, but when I left, the parking lot was full. 

The sun was rising when I started my run on this new-to-me segment. The trees are just about at peak color and with the sun shining through, it was breathtaking. The Monches segment borders the Oconomowoc River. There are a lot of wetlands and marshes, so there were quite a few boardwalks on this segment. I did see a few runners as well!

After I finished the Monches segment, I stopped for water at my car and returned to the trail, continuing on to the Loew Lake Segment. Along with more colorful foliage, this trail is up above the river, showcasing beautiful views. Since these trails are in the Kettle Moraine National Forest, I also ran through some piney woods, which I always love. I also ran through a meadow and got a distance view of Holy Hill, where I ran 10 days ago. 

I finished up with almost 12 miles and a huge smile on my face. Trail running is really magical!

I woke up on Monday stiff and sore. I groaned when I checked the WOD--there were 400m sprints in the MetCon. No heavy strength this time but lots of upper body work. The Strength/Skill portion was a 14 minute EMOM  10 second hang hollow hold and pull-ups (I don't have pull-ups so I did banded pull-ups 4-5 each time) alternating with 30 second handstand holds. We kicked up to the wall but only our feet could touch the wall. This was much harder than I expected, but I held them all. The MetCon was 4 rounds for time 400m sprints, 20 empty barbell thrusters (I knew this would be tough so I used the 15# barbell), and 15 push-ups. By the third round, my push-ups started to sag, so I did them off of a box for the last round. Truth be told, I don't know what time I finished, but I held my own thanks to the runs.

After these two heavy workouts, I was reluctant to go to the pool for my weekly Fluid Running session, but after reading this article (gift) in the NYT, I can now call this active recovery. Pool running meets the requirement of low impact. I did a workout called Go Big or Go Home with longer sets than usual. This felt really good and I woke up on Wednesday after a 10 hour sleep feeling ready to run. I was looking forward to do some more leaf peeping in my local preserve. I had a feeling it would be near peak and I was right!

It started out cloudy, but the sun came out halfway through my run. What a difference it makes! I stopped quite a bit for photos and I also did a lot of walking, just soaking in the beautiful fall colors. The trail was covered with leaves and I crunched my way around. At one point, I saw a white tail bobbing through the forest--that was the only deer sighting. As I finished up my run, I saw Bob and Sandy, the sandhill cranes. I hated for this run to end!

Friday morning was gloomy and damp after overnight thunderstorms--only our second rain all month! Since it was dark, I wore my RunVisible gear and a headlamp. I also wore those GlycerinMax, which continue to bring me some speedy runs. The bike path was really dark but I was amused as I ran down the path by the bunnies who were confused by my light. They kept trying to cross the path but when I looked over at them, the light blinded them and they looped away. This game went on for quite a while! I passed a group of my running friends heading in the opposite direction. When I hit 3.1, I turned back around with plans to run a slower 'recovery' pace. 

I stopped to film a selfie video, propping my phone on an electrical tower. I heard a 'whooooo' and looked up. On top of the tower was an owl! On my trail runs, I use the Merlin app to identify birds and learned that this was a Great Horned Owl. I've never heard an owl around here and as you might imagine, I was pretty excited about it!!! I finished up the run with a smile on my face. You never know what a run will bring!

Off the road...

I took an unscheduled rest day on Thursday to drive out to my parents. They were very upset about the care manager, my sisters were arguing over text, and let's just say it was not a good way to start the day. I'm glad I went to see them and so were they. I listened to their concerns and they were valid. So we let the care manager go. As the medical proxy, I can manage my mom's appointments and talk to the providers. My sisters will take on other tasks--one will manage their finances and the other will help with getting services for my parents. It will be more work for us, but none of us were comfortable with the amount of access the care manager had to my parents' information. Her goals were not my parents' goals. She was very aggressive with her approach and we are not that kind of people. The last thing we want to do is alienate her medical providers. Lesson learned. 

My parents do not live close to any of us, so we are currently looking for a home health nurse to visit my mom weekly to check her vitals, do an assessment, and fill her med box. I did tell my dad he has to step up to remind my mom to take her pills and accompany her to her doctors' appointments including going into the exam room with her. I've been calling him to remind her twice a day. What a stressful couple of weeks! My mom has a neuropsychological test coming up and once we get those results, we will move forward with a plan. 

Finally, on Saturday, my hubs and I drove up to the lake with a detour to Verona, Wisconsin, so we could stop for a beer at Lake Louie Brewing, where they had 'trail magic', giving Mammoth Challenge participants BOGO beers! I had a pineapple-infused hefeweizen and the hubs had an American stout. This gives me another trail town to add to the three I need to complete the Mammoth Challenge. It was a beautiful day and the brewery is dog-friendly, so Cocoa could enjoy it as well! 

How was your week? Are you experiencing fall colors? Any fun nature sightings? Did anyone race this weekend?

On Sunday, I plan to finish the Mammoth Trail Challenge on the Lodi Marsh Segment and visit Baraboo for my 3rd trail town. Check out my post on IG!

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