A Sudden Change of Seasons

As Ron Burgundy famously said, "Well, that escalated quickly!" 

We were having a really fabulous fall, warmer and sunnier than normal. I had hopes that this was our new normal. But on Wednesday, the wind picked up, and it started to snow Thursday morning. The snow was wet and heavy, and the wind was strong. My sister and I drove out to our parents' to meet with their lawyer to go over their estate plans. It was a treacherous drive, less due to the conditions and more due to the poor judgment of the other drivers on the road. Clearly no one was prepared for this sudden shift to winter.

By Friday morning, most of the snow was gone but the cool weather lingered. I couldn't even remember how to properly dress! Looking ahead to next week, my layering skills will be put to the test as we are predicted to have highs in the 20s. 

I'm glad I decided to treat my RA flare with this round of steroids. The timing couldn't have been better! Or maybe my body knew the seasons were going to change?

Weekly Rundown:

Sunday; trail run 6.2 miles

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: trail run 8 miles

Thursday: Cross Fit

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: yoga

There was no official Trail Sisters run this week, so for Sunday's run, I drove out to Veteran Acres, the preserve where I've run a few trail races over the years. One of my trail sisters met me there and together we navigated around the trails. We made a couple of wrong turns, but for the most part, we re-traced the 5 mile loop from the Earth Day Trail Race. My legs felt great-thank you steroids-and I even ran up most of the steep inclines. If only I could feel like this all the time!

After my running partner and I finished, I returned to run one more mile. I really wanted to hit 6. Then I drove to my parents' house, bringing them lunch. It seems like everything is good there and I headed home to watch the Bears v Packers game. Did you see that ending?

Monday's WOD had us doing 3 RM bench presses again. This time my partners and I pushed it to 85#. Or should I say they pushed me? I'm glad I did. I completed all 3 lifts in 2 out of the 4 sets; with the other 2 sets, I completed 2 lifts. I finished with an extra set of 2 lifts to achieve the total of 12 bench presses. The MetCon was 'Elizabeth', a 21-15-9 of power cleans (I did 45#) and ring dips (I did mine on 2 boxes). My shoulders were trashed from the bench presses, this felt hard!

Wednesday's trail run started out cloudy, but as the weatherman promised, the sun came out! I saw a lot of deer on this run, but even better—I saw an owl! I saw him flying overhead and thought it was a hawk, but when he landed, I realized it was an owl. What a treat! Overall, this was a very good run, and I'm still feeling strong from the steroids. I have to ride this wave!

On Thursday before I embarked on my snowy trip to my parents', I went to the 6 a.m. class at CrossFit. It was fun to see so many people that I don't normally see at the 930 class! On the whiteboard: 4 sets of 3RM back squats. I planned to do the same weight as I have been doing and built to 130#. The coach told me to use a wider stance, which helped me feel more confident as I squatted. So much so that I added 5# to the final set and got a PR of 135#!! It was heavy but I felt like I could do more. Maybe it's the steroids? The MetCon was a chipper: 2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2 of burpees over bar and toes-to-bar (I did knees to chest). The goal was to be done in under 10 minutes, I finished in 9:24. 

Clearly, I need to learn how to dress for cold weather again. On Friday, the thermometer read 41, and the brisk wind made it feel like 32 degrees. I wore the always reliable Brooks notch pullover with a reflective windbreaker on top and leggings on the bottom. I struggled with pace as I ran into the wind, but I also got quite warm! Did I overdress? After I turned around to return home, I had the wind at my back and the run felt much easier. When I finished, I was a hot, sweaty mess. But I finished this 6 miler in under 58 minutes and considered that a win!

We stayed home this weekend. Saturday was opening day for deer season in Wisconsin and many of the segments were either closed for hunting or border hunting lands. I wouldn't want to be near the trails this weekend! The other reason is that on the ride home, a lot of hunters have their bounty strapped to the roofs of their cars--it's a little upsetting to this deer lover! I'm not anti-hunting, as long as the hunters use the meat, but I don't like to see the carcass.

How was your week? Did you experience the rapid shift from fall to winter? Do you struggle with wardrobe choices when the seasons change? Have you ever seen an owl? 

And then there's this:

By the way, I published my annual Runners' Gift Guide this week! Check it out and see if there is anything you might want to gift the runner in your life, including you!

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